「Tale of Yasashi」 - A Pokémon Adventure (Kanto Arc)
by EverchangingArcadia
Summary: Four years have passed since the events of Kanto. Three new trainers emerge to take on Professor Oak's task. Yasashi and two other trainers from Pallet Town are sent out to fill out the PokéDex for the Kanto region, but is this all that will happen? Will Yasashi's mysterious past be revealed? Will he accept it? Or will the truth be devastating to him?
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

It has been four years since Pokémon Trainer Red has conquered the Elite Four of the Indigo League at the young age of only 11. Shortly after this feat, he disappeared to continue his training to become the Pokémon Master; a trainer with the prestige of triumphing over every Gym Leader, Elite Four, and Champion of each known league as well as the recording of data from every Pokémon known on something called a PokéDex, a device invented by renown Pokémon Researcher Professor Samuel Oak in Pallet Town.

Thousands of trainers have since then aspired to become like the renowned trainer, though, most of them disappointingly failed at doing so; not being able to get past their first Gym Leader. Numerous have thought to have sighted him in around the different regions of the Pokémon world but most of them turned out to be just rumours and hoaxes.

One of these rumours, however, turned out to be true. Three years after Red's sudden disappearance, Ethan, a trainer from New Bark Town and Johto Champion of the Indigo League has been in contact with Pokémon Trainer Red. "After I beat the Elite Four, the Gym Leaders from Johto as well as Kanto, and became the Champion, I went to go train some more at a place Prof. Oak allowed me to access. I then saw him. He was just standing there looking toward the sky." Ethan goes on to speak of the skirmishes they have once in a while but doesn't state where, as Red specifically told him to keep his whereabouts a secret.

He later adds that Red doesn't want to bout just any trainer. "According to him, a trainer who chases their dreams of becoming a great Pokémon Trainer are strong in their own regard, but that isn't enough. Red says he only wants those with solid conviction for becoming a better trainer and those who have an intense amount of passion and love for Pokémon will be able to endure any battle with him. "A couple times I almost thought that I won, but he was just the renowned trainer everyone says he is." Ethan later returned to his home, New Bark Town, to live with Lyra, his travelling companion on his journey and to help Prof. Elm with his Pokémon research.

Another encounter with Pokémon Trainer Red was from the Champion of the Hoenn League. Around half a year after Ethan's reported battles, Littleroot Town Trainer Brendan received a challenge after he completed and won the Super Contest and he had this to say, "I thought it was a prank from a lousy amateur bug catcher or something, I get that a lot actually, but it was Red, and it was one of the most exhilarating battles I had in a long time."

According to Brendan, Red told him that they both were becoming the best Pokémon Trainer of their respected regions around the same time. This was shocking news to Brendan, but after a while he agreed to what he heard. "When I was battling the Elite Four so was he. When I was officially known as the Champion of Hoenn, Red became Champion of the Indigo League." The interview was then cut short. Brendan had told the interviewers that he needed to meet up with his dad, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, Norman. He would leave with his dad on a journey to other regions to train so his status was changed to inactive champion.

What is an inactive champion? An inactive champion is officially a trainer who has defeated the reigning active champion of a region but doesn't assume the responsibility of being the person who accepts the challenge of a trainer after he/she has beaten the Elite Four of that region. An active champion is someone who has defeated the champion of a region and assumes the role of being the person a trainer defeats to be the next champion. The people, however, still call them just "champions" for short. An inactive champion can become active by defeating the reigning champion. The role of active champion of the Hoenn League was transferred back to Wallace, former champion of the region.

Even after all this, people always referred to him always as an Indigo League Champion. Red never assumed the title of champion for the other regions and has never spoke of it ever nor revealed his intentions. He is known to already possessing all the badges from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and is possibly in the Sinnoh region where an aspiring trainer named Lucas is making a name for himself.

Not only did Pokémon Trainer Red make becoming the Pokémon Master his life goal, he also left everything behind in his dream of becoming the Pokémon Master. His status of Kanto Indigo League Champion was changed to inactive champion after his disappearance.

A Dragon Master from Blackthorn City, Lance, soon became the next active Johto Champion of the Indigo League and was shortly defeated by Ethan later on. Ethan didn't stay as the champion for a long period of time so the status of active champion handed back to Lance.

In addition to this, his sister, Leaf, has been worried about him since he left home. "When he left he gave me a letter and a parcel addressed to Green, the current Gym Leader of Viridian City and is now known as the official Indigo League Kanto Champion." she says in an interview. "After that, he tipped his hat and left, never coming back."

An interview with Green later revealed the contents of the letter and the parcel. "The letter…is private. I don't want to talk about it. The parcel was his first PokéDex from my grandfather, Prof. Oak. It contained information from every native Pokémon from the Kanto region… all 151… I was never able to do that, caught around 140 different species and just… stopped….don't remember why…"

When asked about what he thought of Red he laughed and remembers what he was like when he first started his journey. He was a "chatty gossip", said Green sarcastically. "I bet he is doing just that, going to every region, catching Pokémon, beating Gym Leader after Gym Leader, defeating the Champion of other Leagues and so on." Green then goes on talking about the rivalry they had between them. He reminisced about the time they were younger and how the journey changed them completely. A call came for him and he leaves to answer a challenge from another trainer, mumbling about the lack of any good Pokémon Trainers nowadays.

Prof. Oak is known by many to still be in his little lab in Pallet Town organising the information from his other PokéDex users. "From Kanto, to the Sinnoh region, my disciples have been giving out new versions of the PokéDex to record the many species of Pokémon in the world. I have over three hundred Pokémon in my database so far! It is so overwhelming trying to take this information and moving it into stored databases." Shortly after saying this, Prof. Oak told the interviewers he needs to prepare for his television, and perhaps radio, show and leaves.

Although this is what transpired in the Pokémon World, this story, however, isn't about these amazing trainers and their adventures. It is about a mysterious, caring young boy and his journey to become not a Pokémon Master, but to make a future where people and Pokémon will be able to live in harmony. But to do this, his unknown past must be revealed to him and he must endure the hardships that accompanies this adventure. His journey begins at the same place Pokémon Trainer Red started his, Pallet Town.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
"New Games Always Start at Home"

* * *

"Yasashi! Hurry up, you're going to be late for graduation!"  
"Okay mom!"

A medium heighted boy with russet eyes is seen inside of a bathroom brushing his teeth and trying to comb his dark brown hair at the same time. The boy dashes out of a bathroom, almost forgetting about the toothbrush still in his mouth, and heads towards the first floor. He quickly rushes down the stairs, almost stumbling as he had always done ever since he was little. He grabs his grey backpack on the side of one of the chairs in the dining room, and opens it, rummaging through his belongings. His mother looks at him with a semi-serious face. "Careful honey, you might actually fall flat on your face this time." his mother admonishes. Ignoring her, Yasashi continues to check the contents of his backpack, and reassures himself that everything is there. Dipping into the right pocket marked with a red stripe, he finds several unused Poké Balls, five to be exact, and stares at them, losing any cognition of the outside world.

His mother places her hand on his shoulder and he snaps out of his thought. "Don't worry son, I'm sure you'll have your own Pokémon eventually. But now I need you to get a move on. Grab your things quickly, you need to get to your reserved seat before they start calling out names. I'll be there to see you Mr. Number One." She hands him an onigiri she freshly made. He wears his backpack and nods to his mother, then runs out the door.

It was a clear, beautiful day outside. A flock of Pidgey and Spearow can be seen flying in the blue sky, the flapping of their wings slow, but easily heard. Yasashi admires the scenery around him and takes a bite of the onigiri while walking on a dirt path toward a large building filled with very bright students known as Oak Academy, a highly prestigious school that teaches high level subjects from all around the world. It would seem odd for its construction here in Pallet Town, since the biggest city in the Kanto region is the metropolis Saffron City. The school was constructed in Pallet Town four years ago to commemorate the achievements of Green Oak, and his father Prof. Samuel Oak. The school located in Viridian City was too distant for students to head toward, that and the possibility of attacks by wild Pokémon on the Route 1 was an important factor, so the primary reason for the construction of a school in Pallet Town was for convenience and safety.

Yasashi spots a couple of his classmates next to a large tree along the path admiring a Rattata most likely caught by one of them. "How adorable Usagi!" he hears as they pet it, a smile spreads across its face as they do. Yasashi suddenly sinks into a state of depression, and looks down, knowing that he is one of the only people in the school who hasn't caught a Pokémon yet nor has he been very close to one. He continues to look at the different types of Pokémon people seem to be with in Pallet Town, and finishes his onigiri, though, sulking while he did. After a few minutes, he looks at his Pokégear, and panics, realising that he'll be late if he didn't pick up his pace. Without a second to lose, he changes from his casual walk, to an all-out sprint to get to Oak Academy before graduation.

Arriving at a large room right as the bell rings, Yasashi makes it to his seat before roll call was made to prepare the event. After everyone was properly seated, the Principal started to make her speech on a large podium in the middle of the large stage. She was a fairly sized woman, pretty much what any stereotypical Principal would look like, wearing a black suit and pants with a tie. Yasashi looked to the left and saw a group of people, most likely the faculty, sitting side by side and the arrangement was the same for the other side of the room.

Looking around, Yasashi spotted a figure standing with his arms crossed at one of the corners of the room. It wasn't hard to spot the mysterious person, but his cloak blended in to the darkness and could easily appear invisible without paying attention. He concluded that it was a male because of the anatomy. The physique seemed more built then women, and he seemed larger, even though his body shape was thin. His face was hidden by a hood and a cowl that hid from the nose down. The only thing that stood out was a red sash that hung from his waist with a letter "R" on it. He looked at where the eyes are supposed to be and a chill ran down his spine. It was as if the person was staring at him as well. Suddenly, he turned and left. Questions arose from his mind about who this person was and why he was here. He looks around a bit more but couldn't see him anymore. He gave a sigh and averted his attention back to the Principal on the podium.

To his left was four upper class-men graduating today. Two male and two female, not that that actually matters. Genders for the top students do not have any function whatsoever, it's always about what they're capable of, nothing else matters. They were all, like him, labelled as valedictorian. It was quite odd, since a school can only have one valedictorian, but he and four others were able to receive a perfect GPA all across. They could not decide who to pick for the esteemed title so instead they chose all five of them.

The student body president of the school came on to the stage to make his oration at the podium. He wore the regular male school uniform, a blue suit and pants with a red tie. His movements were all graceful and there seemed to be no mistakes in his posture. He cleared his throat and started to speak in a very eloquent manner. "This is an amazing day today." he started.

Even with this powerful voice, Yasashi found it hard to focus on the speech and drifted off into his thoughts. He had always dreamed about what he would do in the future and what it would be like. He then began to think about the first days that he attended Oak Academy.

Since his first day, Yasashi has been segregated for being of young age in the academy, and was frequently made fun of for that; he was only ten when he started. He was ousted and was treated as an outcast by almost everyone in the school. There was another reason for why he was treated as a pariah from the rest, and it was that he was technically an orphan.

His mother did not give birth to him, he was raised by her. Yasashi never knew who his biological parents were, or where he originated from, only that he was found in the outskirts of Pallet Town at the age of ten, or somewhere around that number. His actual age cannot actually be pinpointed, but everyone agreed on the presented age, and no arguments ever arose. The very thought about his unknown past makes his heart grieve, as he fears he might not know his real parents.

As the student body president's speech came to a close, he could hear the others around him fidgeting in their seats. They were eager to obtain their diploma and to either go away to another region or country entirely to continue going to a university to continue their education or to start their dream jobs, most likely relating to Pokémon.

Three of the valedictorians were already called up and made a quick speech each. The next one came up, but didn't make one and sat down quietly. Next was him and he had done the same thing. It was awkward when he stood there and accepted his diploma without saying a word and he could feel the hundreds of eyes watching him. He quickly made it back to his seat and it was announced that the valedictorians of Oak Academy were all accounted for.

Yasashi sat through the long hours of graduation day and awaited the end of it all. When it was finally over, he walked outside to be greeted by his mother. "Congratulations!" she says hugging him. He didn't feel that great. School may be over but he had no idea what he would do from now on besides for possibly finding an open position for Pokémon Breeders.

His mother told him that she would wait for him at home once he is done doing whatever he needs to, not that he has anything anyway. He sighs and looked back at the school. All the graduates were with their friends conversing on what they would do for the rest of their lives. A boy in the distance is playing his guitar with a large crowd around him and there is a girl sitting under a tree writing something in her notebook and also looks over toward the guitar player from time to time.

He thought he saw the cloaked man again but decided that it was a shadow ignored it. There was a group of students closing in on something and Yasashi could tell that it was a Pokémon battle from all the hype and yelling. He was very disinterested and left, heading home on the dirt path.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
"Safeguard"

* * *

At the half-way mark back to his house, Yasashi witnesses something unexpected. He spots a small Pokémon exiting some shrubbery rather panicky off in the distance along the perimeter of Pallet Town and several Beedrill in pursuit. He stares at the group Pokémon as they zoom across forest edge, then disappear into the mass forestry.

_Er, was I seeing that correctly? That Pokémon was being chased by those Beedrill, but why? What should I do?_

As a person who loves Pokémon, he was conflicted to either help it or let nature take its any further thoughts, he sprints in the direction the Pokémon disappeared at and tries to pick up their trail. He runs into a thick layer of trees and naturally made hedges, and continues to follow a pathway of broken twigs and fallen leaves with noticeable holes in several, most of which showed signs of some type of struggle. After what seems to be an eternity, Yasashi begins to think that he is lost. He checks his Pokégear, and finds out that the area was kind of close to the vicinity of Viridian City, so he believes that he would be fine if he ever truly gets lost in what seems to be an endless ocean of trees.

As he continues his search for the Pokémon being chased, he finds himself in a little clearing with nothing but trees and bushes surrounding the whole perimeter. All he saw in the forest were bug types, Rattata, Pidgey, and others he remembered reading about in a book about wild Pokémon in Kanto. _An open area, huh, would it be too coincidental if I were to run into them here? Seems like it._ Yasashi scans the area around him, but couldn't seem to find the Pokémon anywhere. Giving up was a reoccurring thought that started to plague him, and he would've taken up that offer, if it wasn't for what happened next.

Yasashi hears a small cry in the distance and he was slightly able to make out what it said. What bothered him was that the cry didn't sound like it was from a Pokémon, though, of course, most Pokémon make incoherent cries, growls, and other sounds humans cannot make out. It said "Help". The cry was low, and even though it was small, it was still audible enough to pinpoint the source of it.

_That's peculiar, I haven't seen anybody here except wild Pokémon. If it is an actual person in trouble, then I have to find them. Hopefully before they are hurt._

Yasashi dashes in the direction of the cry, searching for any sign of human activity, but doesn't see anyone. He again looks for any person that might be in the vicinity of the large forest, but he concluded that he was the only one there. After a while he finds the group of Beedrill and the Pokémon they were chasing emerge from the interminable rows of trees and bushes. It moved fast while being pursued, and Yasashi followed their path with his eyes. The Pokémon was small, mainly brownish with white fur in some areas, and it continues to run from the Beedrill. It was hard to tell specifically from the fairly rapid movements, but he made a conclusion that it resembled an Eevee in almost every aspect that he was able to make out.

_Though it might've been a Zigzagoon, it was too small to be one, that and I know a lot about Pokémon anatomy. Eevees are extremely rare to find, well, anywhere. Why is it here so close to Viridian City and Pallet Town? Also, where in Kanto would you find a wild Zigzagoon?_

The small Pokémon continues to run from the chasing Beedrill, and Yasashi follows them discretely, hiding in the bushes to conceal himself from their presence. Soon, they came to a little clearing that looks a lot like the he was previously in. Yasashi stares at both the Eevee and the Beedrill, overseeing the encounter between the two. _What should I do? _His mind is clouded with reoccurring thoughts and it drove him insane. His eyes fixed upon the Eevee, which he knew, was most likely frightened to death. It was trembling. It moved back slowly as if trying to increase distance between it and the Beedrill but they kept coming closer and closer.

Suddenly, he heard voices coming from the direction of the wild Pokémon. It is something that is downright impossible to happen, but he could have sworn he heard the wild Pokémon speaking.

"End of the road now, little one." one of the voices says.

What followed was a cacophony of "yeah" and "what he said" comments with other minor comments that followed. Yasashi scratches his head and begins to think that he was going mad.

_Are the Pokémon really speaking? If so, how is it that I can understand what they are saying? This isn't normal at all for, well, anyone! What is wrong with me?_

After a short contemplation, Yasashi gives up on finding a logical explanation, and sits there, eyes closed, in disbelief.

"Someone, help, please."

Yasashi's eyelids opened in and instant, and he recognises the voice. That was the same one he heard from before, and it was coming from the Eevee. The small Pokémon looks around in various directions, desperately wanting an answer for the cry. Its eyes suddenly fixed upon his for a moment, which made the hair on his skin crawl and his heart skipping a beat, but it looked away after half a second. It was trembling in fear.

The Beedrill continue to advance toward the Eevee, and Yasashi begins to lose hope for the cornered Pokémon.

_(What are you doing just sitting there? Help that Pokémon!)_

Yasashi looks around, scanning the area for the one who has just spoken to him. "Who's there?" he questions.

_(There's no time for that! That Pokémon is in danger, and only you could save it now. Go! Before it is too late!)_

Yasashi continues to try and find the source of the voice in his head, but was soon scolded for it, and his attention directed back to the Eevee and the Beedrill. They were speaking about something that he couldn't make out, words of "payback" surfaced periodically, but that was it. "Time for you to learn your lesson, hope you like poison, because you're about to be injected by a lethal dose of it." All the Beedrill lift up their stingers, and then time felt like it froze, nothing was moving, and nothing was heard. Yasashi stared blankly at the Pokémon as they just stopped in their tracks. Tears flowed down its cheeks as it knew that this was possibly the end for it. Yasashi knew what he needed to do, and his limbs felt like it was moving on its own. His mind suddenly stopped processing, and he breaks out of the cover of the bushes, running right toward the Pokémon.

Right before they were able to make contact with the attack, he launches himself in front of the Eevee. Yasashi knew what the outcome of this situation would be, but he didn't care, as long as he protected the Pokémon. He feels the pain of the stingers striking his body, and he lets out a loud cry of pain. His legs give out, and he falls on his knees in pain. Yasashi coughed up blood, and it splattered onto the dirt path. The Beedrill, although confused about his presence, are clearly annoyed of his interference and scolds him angrily.

"What is this boy doing here?" one says.

"What are you going to do?"

"This is between us and that little one behind you."

"Forget it, he doesn't know what we are saying, just get rid of him so we can deal with that pesky trouble maker over there."

Little did they know, Yasashi knew exactly what they were saying, and prepares for the worst. He looks behind him to see the Eevee still in shock, and says, "You'll be (cough) fine. I won't (cough) let them hurt you." he smiles, the coughing getting more and more painful each time. The Pokémon stares at him, astonished at what it happening, and Yasashi looks back at the swarm of Beedrill. Seconds later, the massive group of Pokémon let out a volley of Fury Attacks and Poison Stings.

"Gaah!" Yasashi screams. Blow after blow, the attacks dig deep into his flesh and the pain becomes too much to handle. They finally stop to prepare for another wave of attacks. As the Beedrill warm up, a male voice is heard nearby.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

A giant wall of fire appears from the trees and separates the swarm Beedrill from the Eevee and Yasashi, and the wild bug Pokémon fled in an instant. Relief fills Yasashi when the Beedrill fled. He tries to stand up but then loses sensation of his body and he falls to the ground unable to move. The Eevee gasps in horror, and rushes toward his side. "Hey! Hey! Get up!" it cries. The Pokémon tries to lift Yasashi upon his feet, but it was useless. His breathing slowed down to a wheeze that sounded dreadfully painful, and he starts to lose consciousness. _I'm glad I got to do something before my demise. Be safe…Ee…vee. _Yasashi's eyes lose their colour as his consciousness faded, and the Eevee goes into more shock, trying even harder to get him back on feet.

"No, no, no! Please! Get up!" The small brown Pokémon was about to give up hope until a trainer walks out of a thicket of forestry onto the opening with a Charizard, his hand on its back and congratulating it for driving off the wild Beedrill. He was tall, and was wearing a black coat. The only thing that was visible was his blue pants, his red shoes, and a small part of his hat underneath the hood, it was reddish in colour. The small Pokémon quickly realises that he was the one who saved them from the attack, and gets his attention, yelling for help. The trainer turns toward the little Pokémon and Yasashi's fallen body, his eyes moving back and forth between the two. Shortly, he quickly runs up to Yasashi, and checks his pulse, reading a steady, but low frequency. He turns to the Eevee, and says, "Don't worry, he'll live, but he is badly hurt. He's been injected with lethal poison from the Beedrill. If he doesn't get to a hospital quick, well, you should know the answer to that." The trainer grabs Yasashi and lifts him onto his shoulder. "There is a nearby hospital in Viridian City." he says, pointing with his finger northwest. The trainer carries Yasashi to the Charizard, and lays him on its back. He jumps on, and looks at the Eevee. "Now then, you coming?" asks the trainer, his thumb pointing behind him. The Eevee stands motionless, but nods in agreement to come along. The Pokémon quickly hops onto the trainer's lap. The Charizard pulls back its wings, and then flap, the motion instantly sends them into the air with a boom.

The ride was relatively silent, not making a large amount of noise for the wild Pokémon in the area to stir up, besides the slow flapping of the wings. The Eevee constantly looks at Yasashi and the trainer who came to rescue them. _Why did he come to rescue us two? _It then looks at Yasashi, watching his breathing slow and he was most likely in a fever._ Why did this one rescue me from them? _The Eevee continues to ponder for a reason and they arrive, finally, at Viridian City. They land in the outskirts of the city, where the trainer explains that he cannot be seen by anyone. "It's something that I cannot do. I left for a reason, and cannot come back until it is done." He leaves Yasashi and the Eevee somewhere where they would be quickly discovered by the townsfolk, and leaves without a word.

After what seemed to be an eternity, a nearby fisherman spots the two while walking to his favourite fishing spot and calls for an ambulance. Seconds later, the sound of a siren could be heard in the distance, and a van labelled "Viridian Hospital Emergency Unit" finally arrive afterwards. Two men run out of the back of the van, and one of them kneels by Yasashi to check his breathing and pulse, reading an irregular rate. "He's still alive, but we need to hurry." The medics haul Yasashi's body onto a girder from the back of the van, then carried him inside. The Eevee climbs on just before the door closes, and it pulls off as quickly as it can go. One of the medics notices the Pokémon but doesn't say a word, thinking that it was Yasashi's Pokémon. After several minutes, they arrive at the Viridian Hospital. Yasashi was rushed immediately to the emergency room, and his mother was called about his state. The Emergency Response Unit carried him into a large room filled with medical equipment as well as a team of doctors in blue to remove the poison from his body.

After several hours, Yasashi was brought out of the large room and into one of the hospital rooms, and the Pokémon followed behind, going wherever he was sent. The Eevee continues to linger around Yasashi nonstop. Yasashi's mother visits once in a while to check on his state, and also looks after the Eevee periodically, giving it the Pokémon food the hospital provided as well as some berries she grew in the small garden at home. One day, at midnight, the Pokémon hops onto Yasashi's lap on the bed he is resting on. "I hope you get well soon." it says.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
"Recover"

* * *

_Where am I?_

Those words echoed inside the unfamiliar darkness Yasashi seemed to have awoken in. He looks around and only sees the endless darkness, pitch, black darkness.

_Why am I here?_

He tries to recollect his memories from before waking up in this desolate, empty area, and remembers the events that transpired before he awoke in this place.

_That's right, I was unconscious after saving that Pokémon in that forest… But… I can only remember up to that point… What… What happened after that?_

Yasashi gave up on trying to figure out what became of him after his collapse, and wanders around the nothingness, hoping to find an exit. After what seemed to be an eternity, a bright flash of light appeared in the distance, radiating in the dark. Having no other choice, Yasashi walked toward the light as it gradually became brighter as he approached.

In an instant, there was a sudden transition from the darkness, to a bright light, and he woke up in a well lit room, lying a bed with white sheets. Looking around, he saw nothing but other rooms, a table with flowers, and a small, brown, furry cream-collared Pokémon, staring at him with a smile on its face. "You're awake!" The Pokémon suddenly jumps into the arms of Yasashi, and it snuggled there, making cute tiny sounds as it did.

Yasashi tries to remember where he has seen the Pokémon before, and it hits him. "Hey, I remember you. You're that Eevee from the forest with those Beedrill." he says, scratching the Pokémon's head while it continues the little sounds it was making. It nods with the smile on its face. Several minutes later, Yasashi's mother enters the room and spots him lying upright on the hospital bed with the small Pokémon in his arms. She jumps from excitement and rushes to his bed to hug him, the Eevee jumping out of the way to not get stuck in between the two. His mother's arm wrapped around him tightly, rather too tightly for him.

"Mom." He struggles to get his mother to stop holding him, the Pokémon giggling as he did. "Mom!" he yells, finally getting her to stop. As she lets go, he lets out a few light coughs. "You're hurting me. Ease up on your strength a little, would you?" She chuckles and tells him that she would try to do just that, and remembers the Eevee, which is now sitting on the floor.

"Yasashi, is there a story behind this Pokémon?" she asks, petting the Pokémon with her hand. He tells her the story in chronological order and how he obtained the injuries, giving her as much detail as he can muster up at the moment. "So you were just trying to protect this here Pokémon from those Beedrill." his mother says continuing to pet the Eevee. After a short while, the Pokémon suddenly jumps onto Yasashi's lap. "He saved my life." the Eevee smiles, looking at him. At that moment, Yasashi remembers that he was able to understand what Pokémon say, and explains it to his mother and the Eevee, both confused as he did. "That is rather, peculiar, but how are you able to do this?" his mother asks him looking at the Pokémon on his lap. Yasashi couldn't find an answer, and tells his mother that he has no idea why he has this ability.

Moments later, a doctor enters the room, surprised to see that Yasashi is up and about already. "I'm happy to see that you're doing fine now, Ikiru, Yasashi." He pulls up a chair and places it beside the bed, looking at his clipboard looking through the pages. "I'm here to discuss something that we found in you while we were trying to get rid of the poison in your body." The doctor looks at his clipboard that he brought with him, and scans through it. "After we rushed you to the Emergency Response Unit, we checked your organs and they weren't fairing so well, all of them, and I mean _all_ of them, were failing rapidly from the amount of poison inside your body. At one point, your heart just stopped entirely." The doctor stopped flipping through the papers in his clipboard and looked at Yasashi's mother. "We were just about to contact you, and pronounce that your son passed away, until your heart suddenly started beating again." He looks back at Yasashi, and smiles, yet puzzled at the same time. "At that moment, your body began to recover on its own, and all your failing organs became healthy in a matter of minutes." The doctor scratches his head, and places the clipboard onto a nearby counter. "None of this has ever happened before, so we analysed your blood to see how this happened. We found something that may have been the reason for your fast recovery."

Yasashi waited for what the doctor was about to say, and couldn't believe what he had just heard. "In your blood, we found a DNA strand from Pokémon. Not just one, but an enormous amount of it was mixed with your own DNA makeup. A normal person would simply die from this, as the amount of DNA is very massive, the body would just cease its functions immediately from the conflicting DNA information present, but in your case, it was different. As we looked into this, all the Pokémon DNA suddenly connected to one whole strand, and then only two remained, your own personal strand, and that single strand. Later, those strands combined to make a mixture that was apparently homogeneous.

"It seems that every time you sustain an injury, all the strands break up to somehow heal that wound, and when the injury is gone, they all come back together into that one strand." Yasashi remembers that whenever he was made fun of and bullied in school, all his cuts and bruises healed moments after he sustained them. "Later, we tried to analyse what specific Pokémon was in there, but we found out that it contained hundreds of different strands. The reason why you have it is unknown." he explains. Yasashi's mother is shocked, and tells the doctor that it might be connected to him being found outside Pallet Town. "It must be connected, but there is no clues left behind in his DNA, which took a long time find, that can be used to find out where he is actually from."

The doctor lets Yasashi take his time to receive the information, and he sighs. "So that's why I can understand what Pokémon can say." Yasashi glances at the Eevee, which tilts its head trying to understand what is being said. The doctor looks at him, surprised. "You can understand what they say?" he asks. Yasashi nods, placing his hand on the Pokémon's head. "This Eevee was being chased by those Beedrill, and they said something about learning its lesson, or something like that." He strokes the Pokémon's head, and looks at the doctor. The doctor takes in the information calmly, but knows that there is no logical reasoning, or reasons that he cannot think of at the moment, that can somehow explain Yasashi's case. "This is very, how should I say this, unusual. The presence of the Pokémon DNA is most likely the cause of this." the doctor commented.

A couple minutes later, the doctor informs Yasashi that he can leave the hospital whenever he wants, and exits the room, attending to a patient who has, apparently, been attacked by a horde of Rattata.

The small brown Pokémon glances at Yasashi, still puzzled by what he said about his comprehension of Pokémon and asks, "Can you really understand what I say?" He looks at his mother, and nods at the Pokémon. "Yes, I can. By the way," he says, directing his eyes to the Eevee sitting on his lap, "Why were the wild Beedrill chasing after you in the first place? It is a really odd thing for bug types to prey on other Pokémon." The small Pokémon paces around a bit, likely finding a way to explain the past event. "I was alone in the forest, trying to find somewhere to go. I knew that I was very far from home, but I thought that I would find it if I just kept moving. Though, that was, I think, about several months or so ago." Yasashi was astonished. _Several months?! How is that even possible? _He asks the Pokémon how it was able to survive for so long, alone. "When I was trying to find my home, I wandered into many cities where people there were nice enough to feed me. I'm positive I strolled by what I think is their nest, and a loud boom woke them up. They thought I was the cause and chased after me, then you came along." it explained. Yasashi questions what the loud boom was, but the Pokémon had no idea.

Moments later, his mother tells him that she'll take him home, and Yasashi agrees. He glances at the Pokémon and asks if it has a home. "I don't have one. I am still trying to get back to my home somewhere far away." it replies. "Well you can always stay with me. I mean, we might find out where you just came from. I just know it." Yasashi smiles. The Pokémon nods in agreement and hops onto Yasashi's shoulder. "Until then, let's be the best of friends." he says stroking the Eevee's neck. Yasashi leaves the hospital, knowing that this was the start of a great, long friendship.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
"People Affectionately Refer to Me as the Pokémon Professor"

At home, Yasashi's mother prepares dinner for him and the Eevee. The food consisted of fried rice prepared traditionally with thinly sliced "salmon" lightly placed over the top, a salad, and some Pokémon food for the Eevee. During the meal, something unexpected happens. Yasashi hears a knock on the door, and opens it.

On the other end was the famous Pokémon researcher, Professor Oak! Speechless, Yasashi stands there in awe, trying to find something to say. He was everything he saw on his television and heard about on the radio. Prof. Oak was a mid-sized man having grey hair, wore a white lab coat, a mauve undershirt, dark khakis, and brown shoes.

"Hello, there! Glad to meet you! You must be Yasashi Ikiru, the one whom I heard about." the professor says, and Yasashi nods. "May I enter?" he asks. Yasashi's mind starts to function after a short period, and he quickly processes what the professor said. "Y-yes! P-please, come in." says Yasashi, stuttering. He escorts the professor to say hello to his mother, and she stops eating to welcome him. She asks him if he already ate, and he said no, but before he can refuse, she goes and prepares him something.

"I heard that your son made a quick recovery at the hospital after he was poisoned from a Beedrill attack." he tells Yasashi's mother. Prof. Oak sits down, and folds his hand, thinking about what he heard from various sources. "First I would like to say congratulations for your recovery from that event that transpired. I overheard the doctors saying something about your DNA, and that it was mixed with those found in different types of Pokémon while I was taking care of business in the hospital." He leans back on the chair, and unfolds his hands. "I also heard something about you being able to talk to Pokémon as well." Prof. Oak looks at Yasashi in the eye, and Yasashi felt a little tense from the direct eye contact.

"This is something no one has ever been able to do, except for a certain legendary trainer everyone speaks about." Yasashi quickly realises that he is speaking of Pokémon Trainer Red, and nods. "You must already know whom I speak of, so I don't need to explain in further detail." After explaining one of the reasons why he is here, Prof. Oak then asks what Yasashi wants to do in the future.

"I…I want to befriend the Pokémon of the world as well as raise ones of my own. I want to live everyday with the Pokémon I love and to make a world people and Pokémon can get along more than it already is. I want to make it a paradise for everyone and everything." he replies, nervously. Prof. Oak scratches his chin while he listens, and tells him, "So it is basically a Breeder right? It's a respectable goal. Many kids nowadays just want to become the Pokémon Master, or something along those lines." The praise made Yasashi's stomach feel like it was filled with Butterfree, but he quickly puts together his thoughts and thanks the professor for his kind words.

After a minute or so, Prof. Oak reaches into his coat, looking for something. "I want to speak with you about something kids don't have a chance to get." He pulls out a PokéDex from his sleeve, and places it on the table. The design was very familiar to him.

"This PokéDex is the one used for the Sinnoh region. I want you to gather information on the new features and actions of Pokémon starting here in Kanto. Everything changes overtime, it's only normal for Pokémon in their natural habitats, and I want you to be one of the first one to record these changes. This might seem sudden for you, but I believe, with your abilities, you will be able to pull this off."

Yasashi's gaze turns toward the PokéDex on the table, and stares at it with a blank look on his face. "Will I be the only one to do this?" he asks after the pause. Prof. Oak chuckles, and shakes his head. "Of course not, every person my disciples and I had given the PokéDex to has never gone on the journey alone. The exception would be with the ones in the Johto Region, but other than that, they never went alone." He pulls out two pieces of paper, both with a picture on it, and reveals the other two PokéDex users.

"First one is Sei-Shun Hayashi, an easy-going individual who is pretty average in his intellectual capabilities, but is reliable and is somebody everyone would love to be friends with." His appearance was nothing out of the ordinary. His hair was light black, and a bit messy. His hobbies includes a lot of things from the music industry, video games, martial arts, and many sports.

There was another thing about him that was scribbled on one of the corners, most likely a side note, and it was that he had the ability to imitate other voices. Ranging from people, to Pokémon, he was able to change his vocal patterns to fit whatever he was trying to imitate. Yasashi remembers Sei-Shun around three months ago in Oak Academy, and goes enters a flashback. He was constantly being followed by girls, which then after a while, he began to ignore. Apparently he was annoyed by their constant presence and all he wanted to do was be with his friends without girls wanting him to be their boyfriend. He was always this fun guy that everyone seemed to respect and like. Prof. Oak pulls back Hayashi's document and gives Yasashi the other one.

"This is Mizu Kuria, a little bit of an antisocial person, mainly because of the genetic illness in her family, but other than that, someone who can get things done." The picture shows that she is well kept, and is in a somewhat in a high-middle class family. Her hair is a natural black and her face in the photo showed a serious, no nonsense attitude. Her hobbies include writing, drawing, and singing. Yasashi saw Mizu around Oak Academy once in a while when he was in his second year. She was a lonely person. Every time he saw her after class, she would be sitting by herself isolated from the rest on a bench on one side of an open area of the school. Mizu was either looking at her PokéGear or was writing something in a notebook, just sitting there, not saying a word. He also thinks that he saw the two the day of graduation.

Yasashi gives back the document, and Prof. Oak puts away both the papers and the PokéDex in his white coat. His mother hands the professor his meal, and he wants Yasashi to choose. "Now this is a choice that you must decide on by yourself. Do you want to partake in this journey, meaning that you'll be away from friends and your family, or would you rather live life as you always have, just without a lot of excitement in it to keep you from getting bored, or tired." the professor tells him, eating the meal slowly. He smiles as if he's enjoying it and compliments his mother.

Yasashi replies, telling him that he should already know the answer, that is, yes. "Very well then! The day you three leave together is tomorrow. It was planned beforehand, but you were hospitalised, so I doubt you would have known. Anyway, wear something appropriate, as you'll be wearing it a lot for your journey." he informs him. Yasashi remembers clearly that all the trainers that Oak and his other scientists sent had always wore their signature clothes.

Prof. Oak stands up after finishing his meal, and Yasashi stops him before he leaves. "Don't you give your trainers a starter Pokémon like the time you did with Red and your grandson Green?" he asks the professor, yearning for the answer. The professor scratches his chin, and turns around. "Sorry, not this time. I want you three to catch your own Pokémon or bring one from home. They would be attached to me before you all received them." That was a total lie. He had Pokémon in his Laboratory but he intends the three to start their journey differently. His answer left Yasashi in a depressed state for a while. He had always wondered what starter he would pick from Prof. Oak like Red did.

Oak suddenly says, "But, I don't think that would be a problem for you, considering you already have one, and a rare one in fact!" He points to the Eevee, and lets out a small smile. The Pokémon looks up at Yasashi. "Rare?" it asks, tilting its head in confusion. Yasashi picks up the Pokémon and places it on his shoulder. "It means, that not many of your species are seen as much as others. None of your kind are seen in Kanto in fact, hence the term rare." Yasashi explains. Not realizing it at first, Yasashi had just spoken to the Pokémon in front of Prof. Oak. He pretends that he had never heard it, thanks Yasashi's mother, opens the front door, and leaves.

"Well honey, you should really get ready for the big day tomorrow." his mother reminds him. "Yes, mother." He stands up and pushes his chair in. Yasashi fantasises about how his journey would go and how his two companions would be like. They might be fun like what he read about Sei-Shun or something different like Mizu. He runs upstairs, calling for the Pokémon to come along as well and heads into his room. Yasashi's mother thinks back to the times she first held him. He wasn't small like a baby, but to her, Yasashi grew up like she raised him when he was just an infant. Her thoughts drift back to years ago when she accepted being his mother, and continues to wash the dishes in silence.

Half an hour later, Yasashi prepares his clothes for tomorrow wanting to keep it a secret for everyone else, as he wanted to wear it for any special event. It was something he bought with the money he saved up while helping the school and the money he was given while volunteering to help around the town. He stores what he thought would help him in his journey in his backpack, including a potion he was given by a Poké Mart clerk while he was filling in for one of his friends when they was sick. He sets the alarm for a little bit earlier than what he usually woke up at on his Pokégear, and sits on his bed. The Pokémon hops on his lap, and he strokes the fur on the back of her neck while he was deep in his thoughts.

_Tomorrow is the day I get to finally leave this place. Just like Pokémon Trainer Red did._ He remembers the stories he heard when he was just a little boy in grade-school, how Red's first Pokémon was a Pikachu, the starter Pokémon Prof. Oak gave him, the other Pokémon he is known to carry on him were either given to him, or he caught them. All these tales about Pokémon Trainer Red are greatly exaggerated at times, but one of the most common rumours was that he caught every single Pokémon from Kanto, to Hoenn. After a brief moment, Yasashi looks at the small Pokémon pacing around the room, curious about what is inside. "Are you nervous about tomorrow, Eevee?" Yasashi asks. The Pokémon looks up at him moving its tail side to side, smiling. "Of course I am. It's just that I think I'll be fine, you'll be there with me, right?" the Eevee says, hopping on Yasashi's head, giggling. "Don't worry, you'll be next to me the whole time. Besides, you're my very first Pokémon."

_And more importantly, my very first friend…_

Yasashi then sits there, remembering that he had never had a friend before, and begins to sulk. The Eevee hops off his head, confused as to why his mood just shifted and tries to change it with a big smile. Yasashi pets the little Pokémon and lets out a subtle laugh for realizing what it was trying to do. He looks at the time, and turns off the lamp on the nightstand and covers himself in with his blanket. The Pokémon snuggles beside him, and falls asleep. Yasashi thoughts go to the ceremony tomorrow, and questions what he will ask himself every day for the rest of his life, "What happens next?"


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
"All Boys Leave Home Someday"

* * *

The beeping of Yasashi's Poké Gear wakes Yasashi up from his pleasant sleep, and he sits up on his bed and stretches his arms and legs. The Pokémon who slept by him took notice of this and got up as well, stretches and yawns in a cute manner. At first, Yasashi is clueless as to why his alarm rang so early, and then realises that today was the big day he leaves Pallet Town.

Shortly after, Yasashi jumped out of bed to open the window and sees decorations already prepared in the Town Square. Excited, he runs into the bathroom, and shuts the door behind him. The Pokémon hops off the bed and looks around the room for a bit. There were posters adorning the room and a desk with a Pikachu and Eevee plush doll next to a laptop.

While exploring the room further, the Pokémon looks at a bookcase and sees a variety of books on the shelves. It finds a few Pokémon figurines on one of the shelves, and sees a trainer tipping his hat with a Pikachu on his shoulder. The Eevee remembers seeing a trainer that looked like the figurine somewhere before, but couldn't remember where. Next to him were six other Pokémon, and one of them was an Espeon. The Pokémon reaches out and grabs the figurine, and looks at it, thinking of home as it did. After a while, The Pokémon places the figurine back with the others, and hears Yasashi leaving the bathroom.

"Today is the day!" he yells as he begins to put on his clothes. Five minutes later, he looks at himself in the mirror, admiring the clothes he was wearing, and turns toward the Pokémon. "So! How do I look?" he asks. The Eevee stares at him and then back at the figurine. "You almost look like that person over there." it says pointing toward the figurine on the shelf.

"I tried to make myself look like Pokémon Trainer Red intentionally. The person the figurine over there is." Yasashi walks toward the shelf and picks up the figurine. "This was the outfit he wore when he started his journey. The weird part is, the clothes he wears now is different from what it was back then. I don't know why, but that is how it is." He walks toward the Pokémon sitting with its head tilted trying to take in all the information and kneels beside it. "The clothes I wear now represent what he wears nowadays, though, mine being black and blue while his is usually red and white jacket with blue pants. His shoes are red and black, and his hat in red and white, mine in blue and black. I think I have a picture of him somewhere." Yasashi walks toward his computer and pulls up an image of Pokémon Trainer Red. The Eevee stares back and forth between the picture, Yasashi, and the figurine and could tell the differences.

Yasashi remembers something he had almost forgotten and runs out the door. He comes back with a little box and kneels down beside the Pokémon again. "I made this some days ago after I came home from the hospital. Couldn't find any other colour but this one from one of my mother's old sewing kit, but I think you'll like it." He opens the box and there was a pink bow inside. The Pokémon's eyes glittered as it stared at the vanity item and Yasashi took it out of the box and placed it on the Eevee's left ear. It jumped in glee and hugs Yasashi. "I'm guessing you really like it." He picks up the Pokémon and walks downstairs wearing his backpack. He didn't see his mother anywhere but finds a note on the table as well as some breakfast.

_I'm so proud of you, Yasashi. I will be at the festival with Professor Oak and the rest of Pallet Town. I left some food on the table to start your day off. Can't wait to see you there!_

Yasashi smiles and places the note down. "Thanks mom." Him and the Eevee finish their breakfast and head out the door to start their long journey together.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
"The Colour of Pure-White Beginnings"

* * *

The festival was massive. The whole of Pallet Town participated as well as some people from neighbouring towns and cities and regions. One of the main reasons the festival was held this day was not only because of the announcement of the new trainers, it was also the same day that Pokémon Trainer Red, Leaf, and Green started their quest given by Prof. Oak.

The main point of interest was at the centre of the entire festival. There was a humungous stage with many decorations adorning the walls and a large curtain that will reveal who the three trainers from Pallet Town will be. Of course, the only people that knows the three are the parents and siblings as well as Prof. Oak. A large orchestra signalled the arrival of the three trainers and everyone gathered to watch. Prof. Oak walks onto the stage and a large ovation from the audience greets him.

"Hello there! Glad to meet you! My name is Oak! People affectionately refer to me as the Pokémon Professor. This world…is inhabited far and wide by creatures called Pokémon!" He takes out a Poké Ball and throws it into the air. Immediately, the ball bursts and out comes a Pikachu. It hops onto Oak and sits on his head, playfully snuggling him in the process, though, that was not such a good idea. "Wait Pika-CHU!" Instantly, Oak is shocked by the electric sacks located on Pikachu's cheeks and the whole audience laughs uncontrollably. Oak finally gets Pikachu to stop and it stands next to him on the stage. "Right then, where was I? Oh yes! For some people, Pokémon are pets. Other use them for battling. As for myself… I study Pokémon as a profession." He then mumbles to himself a bit, saying something about him doing this a million times before for some reason. "Anyway, you have all heard this speech before but now, it is time to introduce your three trainers from Pallet Town!"

Yasashi became anxious from all the waiting. The two next to him were both veiled by a curtain to prevent any of them from seeing each other and to prevent the audience as well until their names were called. The Eevee was sitting on his lap following the various shadows moving in the background with its eyes. "When do you think they'll start?" it asked. Yasashi looked at the other two trainers to his left and saw that they both had a Pokémon as well. One was a medium sized one that was covered in fur and the other was rather small.

"…it is time to introduce your three trainers from Pallet Town!" Oak was heard saying. Yasashi felt glued to his seat from all the tension of waiting. A large curtain in front of their individual veils were being raised and a large ovation was heard as it was. He crossed his hands in nervousness and crosses his legs. He looked over at the other two trainers and saw that there were similar movements in one of them.

"Let us welcome our first trainer. He's a boy with an unknown past and a dream to befriend and raise Pokémon. It is my pleasure to introduce: Yasashi Ikiru!" The professor gracefully moves his hand to the first curtain to signal the tech crew. At that instant, Yasashi's curtains were raised and he was in full view of the audience. Many people clapped as he stood up and walked forward. He smiles and waves back with his hand and the Eevee jumps on his shoulder. Scanning the crowd, he could see his mother in the front row as she cheers for him. Other than that, he saw that some people were whispering to each other and pointing to him a lot. He was tense to see this but he pushed those feelings aside so he could enjoy this amazing event. Prof. Oak walks up to him and shakes his hand. Meanwhile, the Pikachu and the Eevee were playing with each other, causing the audience to awe. Oak congratulates Yasashi again and turns toward the large crowd.

"And now, to introduce the second trainer of Pallet Town. She is a serious, no nonsense individual who enjoys small pleasures by herself when she gets the chance. Her voice is enchanting and her art skills are unmatched. Give it up for Mizu Kuria!" Yasashi pivots his head at the second curtain as it raises and it reveals a female trainer with a Sentret. Her attire was very similar to Red's sister, Leaf. The only difference was the pair of colours, which were purple and blue instead of red and blue.

She stands up and walks forward, the Sentret following behind with its little legs. She didn't wave nor smile, nor did she look at the audience for an extended period of time like he did. The Sentret she had was apparently very nervous to be here as seen by it fumbling around. "Don't be so nervous Sentret, be happy at a time like this." Mizu says helping it on its feet. Oak congratulates her as well and pets the Sentret after he did. Yasashi looks back at his Pokémon with the Pikachu and they were still playing with each other.

"Last but not least," Prof. Oak starts. "The third trainer from Pallet Town. He is an extremely talented individual. This young man learned how to play a variety of instruments at a young age as well as being very fit to play many sports. He sings, he plays, and he looks like a model! Basically every female teenager's dream. Here he is, Sei-Shun Hayashi!"

The third curtain now rises with Sei-Shun walking out with his Zigzagoon. Yasashi could hear girls from the audience screaming in joy when they saw him on stage, some even fainting! Yasashi looks back at Sei-Shun while he pets his Pokémon. It then jumps to hug him and they both laugh in glee. He could feel the deep love they had for each other. His clothes looked very familiar, and then it hits him. His clothes were the same as Green's when he started his journey. The only difference was the pants and the bands, which were green. He also wore a green headband, which Green never wore.

Oak continues his routine and asks the three to position themselves over the squares on the ground. Yasashi noticed them before but never knew what they were for. He spots his marked with his name and calls over his Pokémon to continue the ceremony.

"Now then, let us continue to the next phase of this celebration. I bet all of you know what I mean by this." Oak tells the audience. _Next phase?_ Yasashi thought. His eyes moved toward the other two trainers to his left and they looked as puzzled as he was. Sei-Shun clears his throat and asks, "Next phase? You don't mean-"

The screams from the audience finishes what he was about to say. "Battle! Battle! Battle!" they chant. Oak turns to look at the three and smiles. "That's right! Everyone knows that the Pokémon Trainers sent from me and my other researchers have a battle before they officially recognise themselves as trainers." As he ended his sentence, the stage was outputting a roaring shout. Yasashi looks down and finds himself standing on a stage with the large Poké Ball design on it. He looks at the other two trainers and they look ready to fight. "Now to randomise to see who fights first!" Oak points to a large television monitor on the top of the stage and a picture of the three show up on cards that flip over. The screen switches around the cards to reveal that the first battle is between Yasashi and Mizu.

"Here it is ladies and gentlemen! The first battle will be between Yasashi Ikiru and Mizu Kuria! Let's see who will win this first match of many!" Yasashi's and Mizu's squares suddenly moves toward one side of the stage each and Sei-Shun's is moved to the back. Yasashi looks at Mizu and she is ready to battle. He then looks at his Eevee and it looks back in eagerness. "Alright then, let's start the match!"


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
"Rival Trainer Battles"

* * *

Yasashi and Mizu locked their eyes as the television monitor shows the two Pokémon and their health bars increase to max. "Go Sentret!" Mizu yells as her Pokémon rushes onto the stage. Yasashi looks at his Pokémon in confidence and yells, "Go Eevee!" The Pokémon rushes onto the stage and the battle finally begins.

Music from the orchestra plays in the background as the battle starts. Yasashi began to contemplate a strategy to tackle the battle, and figures one out. "Eevee, use Tail Whip to lower its defence!" he says. "Got it." it replies. The Pokémon moves swiftly across the huge stage and brushes its tail against the opposing Pokémon. It tries to swat the Eevee away and it returns back to its side.

Mizu realised his strategy of creating an advantage and tries to make the first blow. "Sentret! Use Scratch!" Mizu orders. Using its tail, it leaps in the air toward its opponent and makes direct contact with its little claws on the Eevee.

Yasashi looks at the monitor to see that the attack took off about a fifth of its health. He began to feel nervous about the situation but decided to make his move. "Eevee, use Tackle!" The Pokémon quickly dashes toward the Sentret and slams into the Pokémon. An announcer in the background in heard talking into his microphone commentating on the battle. "Critical hit!" he yells. The attack took more than half of the Sentret's health and Mizu began to lose morale in the battle. _Am I going to lose this battle? No! I'm not finished yet! _"Sentret, use Scratch again!" she yells without any strategy. It runs toward the other Pokémon only to miss its attack and the Eevee counters with another Tackle to close the match.

The Sentret is sent flying toward Mizu and she catches it in her arms. She falls on the floor for doing so but she is more worried about her Pokémon. It looked up at her with its saddened eyes. "You did great out there." she says as she cradles it in her arms.

Yasashi walks to her and hands out his arm. She shakes his hand after getting up and looks at the Eevee in disbelief. "You have a pretty strong Pokémon, Yasashi. I can't believe it myself, but a loss is a loss." She looks at the bow on its left ear and smiles. Yasashi looks at the Sentret as it tries to move up but to no avail. Yasashi asks Mizu if he could hold her Pokémon for a minute and she hands it to him, though very puzzled. He remembers that his DNA contained information from every known Pokémon in existence and tries to use this to help the Pokémon he holds in his hands.

_What was that move called that helps heal wounds? Does it work on others or…? Let's try, Recover! _Suddenly, a wave of light is flowing out of his hands to the Sentret and it begins to feel better. It jumps off of his hands and moves around bursting with energy. Mizu and the crowd stare in disbelief and Mizu asks, "How on earth did you do that?" Yasashi shrugs and replies that it's a secret. Mizu opens her mouth as to persist, but stops. She looks at her Sentret that is dancing around and smiles.

The monitor is flashing with the image of Yasashi and his Eevee as the winners and cheering can be heard from audience. Prof. Oak walks toward the two to congratulate them and turns toward the large crowd still cheering. "Well, there you have it! The first battle ends with Yasashi Ikiru being the winner of our first match!" he says as the audience continue to cheer loudly. Oak goes to Yasashi's Pokémon and heals it with a potion and an ether and returns to the front of the stage. Yasashi and Mizu return to their squares to await for the next match. "Now for the next battle! Let's see if Sei-Shun can dethrone Yasashi in the next match as the top trainer of the three so far!" Sei-Shun's square suddenly switches with Mizu's and then he and Yasashi are facing each other.

"You ready?" Sei-Shun calls out from the opposite side. "Of course! Let's start this battle!" Yasashi replies. The monitor now shows Yasashi and Sei-Shun with their respective Pokémon and the match begins.  
"Zigzagoon! Use your Growl!" Sei-Shun calls out. The Pokémon takes a step back and lets out a cry that lowered the Eevee's attack. "Use Tackle!" Yasashi says to the Eevee. It rushes straight toward the opponent and slams into it like it did before and the Zigzagoon falls backwards. Its health drops almost halfway, but Sei-Shun wasn't swayed by this. "Use Tackle as well Zigzagoon!" The Pokémon zips across the field in a zig-zag pattern which Yasashi's Pokémon couldn't keep up with and then it is sent flying. "You did it Zigzagoon!" he yells from across the stage. The Eevee manages to land on its paws and Yasashi looks at the monitor. The attack took almost a third of its health, and he knew that Sei-Shun had the advantage with his Zigzagoon's speed, but Yasashi could still win this if he gets lucky. The match continued for several minutes and both Pokémon had their health very low. Both of the trainers knew that only one would win this battle, and it was nearing its end.

"Okay, Eevee! Use Tackle!" Yasashi says.  
"Zigzagoon! You as well!" Sei-Shun says also.

The two Pokémon rush at each other, everyone holding onto their seats at this point to see the outcome of what seems to be the end of this match. As they were about to make contact, both of them suddenly missed their attacks! Everyone was bewildered at what had just happened and gasped. Before anyone could react, the Eevee turned around quickly enough to gain the advantage of the situation and dealt the final blow on the Zigzagoon. Even when it was faster than the Eevee, the Pokémon's confusion caused it to fumble when it realised what had happened, but it was too late.

The Zigzagoon tried to get back up but fell on its side. Sei-Shun ran up to it and picked it up. "You were awesome" he says to it. He looks at Yasashi and nodded his head. "It seems that you got lucky this time Yasashi. I guarantee that this won't be happening next time." He smiles and Yasashi replies, "Guess we'll find out the next time, won't we?" The cheering grows louder and louder as the monitor reveals that Yasashi is the winner.

The three trainers stand side by side with their three Pokémon as Prof. Oak presents them their new Sinnoh PokéDexs installed with the National Dex feature as well as six Poké Balls. "There are many Pokémon in the Kanto region that cannot be found in the Sinnoh region. I want the three of you to help fulfil my dream in Pokémon research. All I can say now, is good luck, and make sure your journey is filled with joy and challenge." Oak says facing all three of them.

Yasashi looks at his set of Poké Balls and then at the Eevee. "You'll be my first Pokémon on this amazing adventure, Eevee." He and the other two trainers face each other, and then simultaneously toss up their Poké Balls. Their Pokémon then jump to their respective trainer's ball and all of them make a tick sound to signal the capture of a Pokémon. They all fall back down to their trainer and they all look at their PokéDexs. Information on their Pokémon show up on the screen. After a while, they send out their Pokémon from their Poké Balls. Yasashi looked again at his PokéDex to read the text about his Pokémon that pops up and then turns toward his Eevee.

"So, according to the PokéDex, you're a girl…"

The Pokémon stared at him blankly for a minute and questioned, "I thought you knew." It wiggled the ear with the pink bow on it and Yasashi sighs. "Well, from what I remember, around an eighth of your species or so is female, which is a low amount, for some odd reason. Besides, I said that that was the only colour I could find from my mother's sewing kit." he says pointing to the bow.

While the two were bickering, the other two trainers were speaking to each other.

"I have no idea what he is talking about." Mizu says to Sei-Shun. "I think he's talking to it. Something about not knowing its gender until now." he tells her. "Well I happen to know my Sentret's, so this doesn't pertain to me." She looks at her PokéDex faces her Pokémon, irritated. "What do you mean you're a girl?" she suddenly says.

Sei-Shun looks at his and at his Zigzagoon. _Mine's a male! Well, I knew that before then, so ha! _He smiles to himself and Yasashi and Mizu turn to face him. "And now this guy is going to say that his is a male I bet." both of them say in unison. "Huh?" Sei-Shun breaks out of thought and then realises what they said. "Oh, um… heh." Sei-Shun nervously says.

Everyone laughs while they continue to argue and Prof. Oak was the one to break it up. "Well now! It's always fine to have some new things appear once in a while, but let's stop this so we can finish this celebration shall we?" The three stop arguing and stand to face the crowd.

"Here we have it ladies and gentlemen, the three trainers of Pallet Town have received all they need to head off! Now let us wish them a big farewell!"

All the attenders let the air flow out of their lungs as they say farewell to the three trainers. Their mothers and fathers wish them luck at the front of the stage, the exception being Mizu whose father and mother aren't present.

Mizu was the first who arrived at the gate after the festival, next came Sei-Shun and then Yasashi with his Pokémon on his shoulder. "So, your Eevee will travel alongside you out of its ball?" Sei-Shun asks. Yasashi nods and places his hand on the Eevee's head and scratches its fur. "Yep, why don't you have yours out as well Sei-Shun?" Sei-Shun takes out his ball and looks at Yasashi in the eye. "Please, just call me Sei, that's what I have my friends call me that." He lets out his Zigzagoon from its ball by throwing it up in the air. It bursts open and he catches it in his arm.

"I heard that Pokémon Trainer Ethan and Lyra travelled alongside their Pokémon when they travelled across Johto and Kanto. Red also did that with his Pikachu I believe. If that builds a stronger relationship between them and their Pokémon, then I'll do that too." He scratches his Zigzagoon's ear and it licks him.

Mizu looked at the two while they spoke to each other and she takes out her Sentret's ball. The ball bursts open after she placed it on the floor next to her and her Pokémon stares at her in confusion. "I'll have you travel next to me outside of your ball if you're okay with that" she tells it placing her hand on its head. It lets out a cry of happiness and jumps up to hug her. "Hey! Hey!" She manages to get it to stop hugging her and wraps her arms around its stomach facing forward.

Yasashi and Sei-Shun arrive at the gate to see that all three of them would be travelling with their Pokémon out of their ball. "Hey! So we all have the same idea." Sei-Shun says pointing to Mizu's Ferret. She turns away from him. "Whatever." she says. She spots something Sei-Shun was carrying and points to it his back. "And you're bringing that too?" Yasashi follows her finger and sees that Sei-Shun carried his pack, which resembled Green's when he was on his journey, as well as something in a leather case. "Oh, this?" He points at it with his thumb. "It's my guitar. I always have it with me. Always gotta have something to livin' things up a bit, right?" he replies. Mizu shakes her head and sighs. "Whatever. You two ready to go?" She asks. They both nod at her and walk out the gate together to start the greatest adventure of their lives


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
"Route 1"

* * *

All three of them tread through the first grass patch and examine a recently placed sign. "Route 1" was what it said. Yasashi looked at the patches of grass that stretched far and wide along the path. Several different people were on the path heading to and from Pallet Town.

Yasashi took out a large book from his backpack and flipped through the pages. Mizu was curious to see what he had in his hand so she leaned closer to him and saw detailed illustrations of various maps and Pokémon. Yasashi stopped looking through the book and analysed the current page he was on.

"Yasashi, what are you reading?" Mizu asks. Yasashi turns toward her and smiles. "This is the official guide of the all the Pokémon and landmarks of the Kanto region. I was looking at this." He shows her the page he was on and written on it in big letters was "Route 1".

He points to a chart with different species of Pokémon labelled on it. "Says here, there are currently five different species of Pokémon we can encounter in the grass. There are Pidgey, Rattata, Sentret, Furret, and Hoothoot that we can find. There are more in the trees, as well as some hidden ones, but we have to have a Pokémon that knows Headbutt and a device that allows us to encounter those not normally seen here." he informs the two. "Just seeing them isn't enough to fill the PokéDex, but there is a way that every trainer knows that will."

Sei-Shun looks at Yasashi and Mizu as all three realise what he meant. "Guess we'll need to catch them then!" he says with a smile on his face. Mizu takes out her Poké Balls. "I'm ready to start filling up this PokéDex." she says, tossing one up in the air and catching it. Yasashi smiles at the other two then at his Pokémon. "You ready Eevee?" he asks. It nods its head. "Ready when you are." it replies. The three trainers look at each other in the eye and nod in unison. They then head off to catch all the Pokémon they can find on Route 1.

**…**

Sometime later, the three are at the gate connecting Route 1 and Viridian City sitting next to their Pokémon and several Poké Balls. Sei-Shun was lying on the grass on his back breathing heavily with his Zigzagoon. He looked at his Pokémon tired from all the battles and then at Yasashi, who had his eyes closed with his hands on his Eevee. Sei-Shun looked closely at him and could see the same aura he saw when he held Mizu's Sentret go to his Pokémon. A second later, the Eevee was hopping around gleefully. Sei-Shun stood up and walked toward Yasashi with his Pokémon in his arms and sat down next to him.

"What was that a second ago?" he asked him. Yasashi looks at Sei-Shun then at his Pokémon. "What was what?" he tries to feign ignorance. "You know, the mysterious glow from your hands that suddenly made your Pokémon and Mizu's healthy in that match the day before. How did you do that?" Yasashi could tell that this conversation would continue to go on and on if he didn't say anything.

"It's…a secret. I can't exactly tell anyone about it." he says. Sei-Shun was disappointed and looks at his Pokémon. "Well, before we can get to that Pokémon Centre in Viridian, you mind if you can do that to my little Ziggy?" he hold out his Pokémon to Yasashi. "Um…sure Sei." He takes the Zigzagoon from Sei-Shun's arms and closes his eyes. Mizu was staring at the two while they were conversing, curious about Yasashi's unknown powers as well.

Yasashi's hands outputted the same glowing aura as it did the other two times and Sei-Shun's Zigzagoon opened its eyes to see Yasashi. It smiles and licks him, knowing that it was him that healed it. "Thank you." it says smiling. "You're welcome." Yasashi says back to it.

There was a short pause of silence. "Um, did you just talk to me?" the Zigzagoon asks. Yasashi nodded. "Of course, who else would I be speaking to?" Yasashi looks at Sei-Shun and realised what he had just done. "Did you just…?" Sei-Shun questions. Yasashi looks back and forth at the Zigzagoon and Sei-Shun and knew that he can't get out of this situation. "Erm, yes. I did." Yasashi says nervously.

"How?" Mizu asks.

Yasashi and Sei-Shun jump at her sudden voice and Yasashi clears his throat. "It's, um…something I'm just able to do." he says nervously. Mizu was clearly trying to persist in getting an explanation out of him and Yasashi tries to avert his gaze. She sits up and looks at her Sentret and Sei-Shun's Zigzagoon, playing with each other in the grass.

Yasashi knew that he needed to think of something fast to get out of this situation, and says, "Well, it's…um…something I kind of found out recently…heh…" Mizu gave him a chilling stare.

"What do you mean recently? We live next to Pokémon every day since we were born and you say that you can understand Pokémon now!? That's ridiculous!" Mizu stands up and looks at him scornfully. Sei-Shun can feel the tension between the two and slumps down on the tree. "I mean come on! It is truly ludicrous that you've learned of this ability now!" she continues to yell at him. She stops and catches her breath. Yasashi looks down at the ground, and Mizu could already tell that something was wrong and felt guilty. She sighs. "I'm sorry if I've been harsh, but-…" Yasashi cuts her off. "It's fine." He looks at the two and then at his Pokémon that was listening in on the situation.

Yasashi looks at Mizu in the eye and starts to explain his past. "I don't know anything from my past before I was ten years old. It is all a blur and nothing else. After I was found on the outskirts of Pallet Town, I was taken in by my mother who agreed to have me as her child when she discovered out that she was unable to have children because of a genetic disorder."

Tears started to form from his eyes and he wipes them away. "I was never able to come near Pokémon when I was young, and I never had any friends before. I was alone. There were some segments on TV that had Pokémon on them, but I only heard people narrating the whole thing, no Pokémon ever said anything in those. So that's my story. I've been alone with my mother for the four years that I've been in her care. I had no friends as I was constantly bullied and treated as an outsider." He goes on to tell the two how he met his Eevee in the forest in the outskirts of Viridian City.

"The swarm of Beedrill would've killed me that day, but they didn't." Something comes up in his mind and he looks at his Pokémon and asks it, "By the way, you never told me who the person was who saved us that day." The Eevee tries to remember who it but could only remember the cloak it wore and a large Pokémon that could fly. It also told him that the trainer tilted his hat too, but it was only a white rim. "Well, a lot of trainers can fit that category. It could also be…no…that would be wrong to assume that it would be him." Mizu and Sei-Shun look at him puzzled, but he went no further to explain what he meant.

"Well, now that we're done here in Route 1, how about we finally head to Viridian City while the sun is still up?" Yasashi asks them. They nod in agreement and call over their Pokémon.

Mizu had a pain in her chest. Sei-Shun looks over at her and places his hand on her shoulder. She looks at him and he smiles. "Don't blame yourself, you didn't know, none of us. Now that we know that his history was rough, let's make this adventure the best one we'll ever have." Mizu removes his hand from her shoulder and turns away. "Yeah, the best one."

The three trainers with their Pokémon head through the gate and into Viridian City as the sun sets in the distance.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
"Viridian City"

* * *

The sun rose off east signalling the start of a new day. The three trainers ate a good meal from the Inn's breakfast section and happily left filled. The owners thought that it was a good way to reward customers for staying and it was a shame that they didn't have much business.

The three walked around Viridian City for a while and pondered what to do next. When they wandered by the PokéMart, they decided to stock up on items. They knew that they would need to stock up on Antidotes for Viridian Forest and that was one of the first things they bought. Looking at the Antidote made Iris remember what happened to Yasashi in the forest that day. Yasashi places his hand on her head and smiles, lifting her mood. The Pokémon stare at the colourful items assorted on the shelves and their trainers, finally done with their purchases, called for them to go. Before they left, the clerk told them to wait and places a package on the counter.

"Hey! You came from Pallet Town? You know Prof. Oak, right? His order came in. Can I get you to take it to him?" The clerk smiles and Yasashi picks up the package from the counter. He looks at the two and they all sigh in unison. "Okay, thanks! Please say hi to Prof. Oak for me, too." the clerk adds. Exiting the PokéMart, Yasashi tells Mizu and Sei-Shun that he would be back and left to deliver Oak's parcel, his Eevee following close behind. Mizu and Sei-Shun decided to visit Green at the Gym that was north of where they were.

"We should at least do something worthwhile to wait for him, right?" Sei-Shun asks her. She shrugs. "Might as well." she replies.

After a short walk, they found an old man on the middle of the road. "Hey, um…Are you alright?" Sei-Shun asks. He walks closer to examine him and the old man suddenly gave a loud burst of verbal orders. "You can't go through here! I absolutely forbid you from going through here! This is private property!" He says while still lying on the ground. A young women came out of a nearby house with a mug in her hand and sees Mizu and Sei-Shun. She turns her gaze to the old man on the middle of the road. She quickly moves beside the old man, handling the mug carefully as she did.

"Oh Grandpa! Don't be so mean!" She raises his head to the mug and he drank with big gulps. She turns her head toward Sei-Shun and Mizu and apologises. "I'm so sorry. He hasn't had his coffee yet."

After a short while, Yasashi came back with his Eevee sitting on his shoulder. "Hey guys, did I miss anything?" he asks. Mizu shrugs and Sei-Shun shakes his head. "Not really. Some old guy didn't let us pass until he had his coffee." He points to the young women trying to get her grandfather on his feet. Yasashi sighs, relieved that they didn't leave him out of anything important. The young women looks at the three and lowers her head. She apologises again and brings her grandfather inside and shuts the door behind.

"So what was in that package?" Sei-Shun asks. Yasashi shrugs. "It was just a custom Poké Ball that he ordered." he told him.

Yasashi recalls his trip back to Pallet Town and him entering Oak's lab to deliver the parcel.

"Hm? Oh, Yasashi! How goes your journey? Are you taking good care of your Pokémon?" he asks the trainer. The Professor takes a good look at the Eevee and it was showing affection toward Yasashi. "Well, it seems to be growing more attached to you. You must be talented as a Pokémon Trainer." Oak tells him. Yasashi smiles and eyes the box he was carrying. "What's that? You have something for me?" The trainer hands Oak the parcel and the Professor smiles as he opens the box and takes out a round object that resembled a Poké Ball. "Ah. It's the custom Poké Ball. I had it on order. Thank you!" It was a strange colouration; the whole device was crimson with a strange design on it. "What type of Poké Ball is that, Prof. Oak?" Yasashi asks him. The Prof. inspects at Poké Ball and nods his head as he analysed it. "It's called a Cherish Ball. The Pokémon League has been working on a way to reward trainers for their hard work and had Silph Co. develop a new type of Poké Ball to commemorate these special events. With the data from the PokéDexs that a couple certain trainers have filled, they were able to research a way to replicate Legendary or other hard to obtain Pokémon. These Legendary Pokémon are highly restricted on their abilities, so there is no worry if things go out of hand." Professor Oak explains to him.

_Legendary Pokémon, huh? I wonder what they're like. _Yasashi thinks to himself.

He says his farewell to Oak once again and heads back to meet up with Mizu and Sei-Shun, hopefully catching up before anything important happens.

Back the present, the trainers walked a bit further and arrived at the front of Viridian City's Gym. Yasashi looks at the sign marked with a Poké Ball insignia placed near the entrance and reads the text inscribed on it.

Viridian City Gym

Leader: Green Oak

The Omnipotent Master

"Sounds a tad pretentious, don't ya think?" Sei-Shun asks the two. It didn't seem to matter to Yasashi, he only wanted to meet Green, one of the two who grew up with Red, besides his sister Leaf, and who is probably a perfect match in a battle against him.

Before they could walk through the automatic door, it suddenly sprang open. A young man with spiky orange hair that was combed in one direction came out with his hands in his pockets. He wore a dark grey jacket and shoes, brown pants, and a necklace. He glances at the three trainers and sighs.

"If you want to challenge me, come back later. I got a call from the Pokémon League that sounded urgent." The tone of his voice sent a chill down the spines of the three. Yasashi clears his throat and shakes his head. "We're not here for a challenge. We only wanted to see you." he says. Green's eyebrow went up in curiosity. Something must have grabbed his attention. "Hmm." He stares at all three of the trainers looking back and forth between them. Yasashi saw that he stared more at their clothes and at his Eevee on his shoulder. A smile ran across Green's face as he took a step back.

"Ain't this a surprise? You all are dressed in the same clothes that me, Red, and Leaf had when we went on our journey all those years ago. With different colours, but still the same design." His brown eyes then focused on Sei-Shun. "I remember wearing that when I was younger. I think it was around seven years ago." Green then turned toward Yasashi's Eevee. "My first Pokémon was an Eevee that gramps gave me. Well, not exactly gave me but it was still my first. Ah, the memories. I can remember everything as if it happened yesterday." He smiles as he scratches the head of the Eevee.

The Pokémon pokes Yasashi in the neck to get his attention. "He's really nice. I wonder… What did his Eevee evolve into?" it asks him. He ponders for a minute and shrugs. "I'll ask." he whispers. He looks at the Viridian City Gym Leader and Kanto Champion laughing with Sei-Shun.

"Hey, Green." Yasashi says. "What did your Eevee evolve into?" The Gym Leader stands there and scratches his head. He turns toward Yasashi and smiles. "Mine? Hmm…Why do you want to know?" he questions. "No reason in particular. Just curious." Yasashi replies. Green shrugs. "Well, the one I used as champion against Red that fateful day was a Jolteon. He won against me at every battle I encountered him with. Man he was strong. Still is, I think. I don't see him that often anymore. He just up and left. Really modest person too." Yasashi analyses his words carefully. "What do you mean by, 'the one'?" he asks. "I had two. One I got from gramps and one that I got somewhere in Celadon City. That one was the one that I used the Thunder Stone on. The one gramps gave me evolved into something else."

Green reaches toward one of the Poké Balls on his waist. He only carried three on him, which was odd since he usually carried six. He throws up one of the Poké Balls and it burst open to reveal an Umbreon. "I didn't know that an Umbreon was one of the many evolutions of Eevee and I didn't want to use it against Red. It seemed kind of cheating to use a Pokémon not ever recorded before in a battle so I kept it around. The PokéDex couldn't even obtain data from it at the time. Using a Dark Type when none of them were in the Official League types at the time seems unfair, don't you think?" He bends down on one knee and scratches the head of his Umbreon. "I never use her in battle all the time though, and she seems kind of irritated for that." Yasashi noticed that Green used the words "her" and "she" and the others seemed to have as well.

"Well, it was nice meeting you all, but I have to go. Meetings are boring as hell, but I have to attend them." His Umbreon hops on his shoulder and he takes out another Poké Ball and tosses it up. A Pidgeot comes out and he jumps on its back. "I'll see you guys soon then. I hope I'll get to face you all, I bet you guys would make amazing trainers." His Pidgeot starts to gain air and then flies off at unbelievable speeds.

The three trainers wave their hands and then look at one another. "That was a nice talk with him, eh guys?" Sei-Shun tells the two. Yasashi smiles and Mizu just looks away. "Whatever. Anyway, we need to get to Pewter City soon if you two are going to start your Gym challenges." Mizu says. Yasashi looks at her in confusion. "'You two?' You're not going to collect the Gym Badges?" he asks. She looks at Yasashi in the eye, then at Sei-Shun. "I…I'm not a battling type. Prof. Oak said to fill out the PokéDex and that is what I intend to do." She starts to walk off and Sei-Shun quickly follows behind. Yasashi stands there worryingly and looks at his Pokémon, he then starts moving to catch up with his companions.

Mizu's Sentret looks up at her and she looks back at it. "I'm sorry…but I don't want to participate in battles like those. Wild Pokémon are fine, but with trainers…I don't want any of you to get hurt." She could feel its disappointment but she already made up her mind. She holds it tighter in her arms.

_I will not allow you all get hurt. I won't let that happen again. Not again…_


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
"Viridian Forest"

* * *

The sound of flying insects fills the air in Viridian Forest. The three had just entered through the gate and were greeted by the new ecosystem. Yasashi was looking through his book on Pokémon found in the Kanto region and looks at the tall grass and trees that had apparently overgrown the area. He looks at Sei-Shun and Mizu and closes his book. He points toward the lone tree that divided the four-way intersection at the entrance of the forest. "Let's meet up here after we finish catching the Pokémon in this area."

The three had agreed to only catch one Pokémon per area that was not a duplicate and was of a different species every time. Prof. Oak had modified their PokéDexs so that whenever one catches a Pokémon, the information is filled for all three. He wanted their journey to be full of excitement and adventure, but not tedious. "You all having the same Pokémon can get pretty boring. I'm sure you understand." Yasashi recalled him saying. Sei-Shun nods his head and heads west with his Zigzagoon. Mizu took the opposite route and headed east. Yasashi took the only path remaining and went north.

…

It was about an hour after their separation that they made it back at the tree that divided the paths. Sei-Shun was the first to arrive with a Weedle. It was happily riding along on his head and he didn't seem to mind. Mizu came five minutes later with a Caterpie. The small Pokémon was sleeping inside her bag when she came. Sei-Shun thought it was cute.

"Thanks, so…what's up with the Weedle?" she asks him. He laughs and sits down at the base of the tree. "Well, I was just walking through the tall grass…" A flashback pops into his head as he explains the whole scenario. He was walking through the grass casually when suddenly, "Hey, Ziggy. Do you hear that?" His Pokémon searches the area, but finds nothing. It then looks up, and spots what was making that sound. Sei-Shun follows his Zigzagoon's eyes and a small orange Pokémon lands on his face before he could see what it was, which makes him yelp and fall to the ground.

"So it literally fell on your face?" she says in a not amused tone. "Yep." he replies a big grin on his face. Sei-Shun looks up and exchanges smiles with his Weedle.

It wasn't long after that when Yasashi arrived. His Eevee was on one of his shoulders while a Pikachu was on the other and they were conversing with each other. He waves to the two as he approaches and they saw that parts of his clothes and hair was singed. They immediately noticed the Pikachu and stare at him in irritation. He looks up at both of them to see their faces and got a bit nervous, and scared. "Hey, uh…is something wrong?" he asks. Sei-Shun looks at Mizu and she was the one who answered.

"Out of all the Pokémon here, in this forest, you just happen to find a Pikachu?" she snaps at him. He looks at the two and sighs. "I'm sorry, but he was really the first Pokémon I encountered." He points to his Pikachu on his shoulder and it raises its hand as if to wave hello. "You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get him." He slumps on one of the sides of the tree and relaxes his muscles. "I'm sure it was a hassle." Sei-Shun says staring at the ruined clothes. Yasashi could tell that they were eager to know how he obtained the injuries.

"It was deplorable." he starts. While Mizu and Sei-Shun were catching their Pokémon, Yasashi was desperately searching for a possible addition to his team. A beeping sound on his PokéDex indicated that one of the other trainers has caught a Pokémon and the data was filled for their respected captures. Yasashi looks at his PokéDex and sees that Sei-Shun caught a Weedle while Mizu caught a Caterpie. He groans, knowing that the only Pokémon left in the area was a Pikachu, one of the rarest to find in the world. "Mewtwo tap-dancing Arceus! How am I ever going to find a Pikachu!?" he exclaims.

A rule the three agreed on was that if there were no catchable Pokémon in the area of if they fail to capture one, the ones who failed would be forced to wait until the next area to catch one. If there was more than three obtainable Pokémon in the area, however, it's anyone's game as long as they do not catch any duplicates.

Yasashi was ready to give up and prepared to bring the bad news back to his friends. A small yellow Pokémon suddenly emerges from one of the bushes behind Yasashi as he talks to his Eevee. It spots the trainer and smiles unusually. It sneaks up behind the trainer and charges up, its electric sacs in its cheeks jumping off them. The Eevee hears a strange static sound and looks behind her to see a Pokémon. It realises quickly what it was doing and leaps off Yasashi's shoulder. He was confused at this sudden action.

"Iris, what're you doi-I-I-I-ING!" Yasashi gets Thundershocked from the Pokémon, the Pikachu rolls on the grass laughing hysterically from its act. The Eevee stares at the troublemaker and approaches it irritated. "Really now? First person you see and you electrocute them?" she says not amused. The Pikachu stops laughing and wipes away a tear. "Oh hey~. Didn't see you there." it says, which is a complete lie. The Eevee sighs. "If that's your attempt of a pickup line that was terrible." She turns away and heads toward her trainer, still jittery from the shock. "W-what i-in the D-Distortion World was t-that?" He manages to get himself on his feet and catches himself before he fell. "Don't get up too fast." the Eevee says worryingly. "I'm… I'm fine." he tells her.

He turns and glares at the Pokémon that attacked strictly. "What was that for?" he asks. It chuckles and says that it was for fun. "Well that certainly wasn't fun for me. Pretty sure I had a cardiac arrest for that." he replies.

It was baffled. How could a human understand the speech of Pokémon? "Did you-" it starts. "Yes, I do understand what you are saying. Every word." He answers the question before it was even asked. Yasashi removes his hands from his knees and strands up wobbly.

He scratches his head and knows that he was forgetting something else, and then it hits him. "Wait a minute, you're a Pikachu!" It looks at him puzzled. "Of course I'm a Pikachu, what else would I be?" Yasashi could not hold his excitement. He actually encountered a Pikachu! The odds of that happening would be like finding another Pokémon in a cave full of Zubats. A rare one.

Yasashi reaches into his bag and searches for a Poké Ball. The Pikachu already understood what he was doing and took a step back. "Oh no, I'm out of here." It turns around and dashes off. "Iris, go after it." Yasashi tells his Eevee. "Got it." She quickly chases after the Pokémon and Yasashi takes out a Poké Ball and heads out as well.

The Pikachu was fast. It hopped over all the obstacles that it came across, but Yasashi and Iris were persistent. It looks at the two as they try to catch up and snickers. "Catch me if you can!" it calls out. At certain times, Yasashi and his Eevee thought that they lost it, but it was a ruse. Every time Yasashi lost sight of the Pikachu, it was actually hiding in one of the bushes nearby. It constantly shocked Yasashi and laughed every time.

After a long chase, the Pikachu grew overconfident. It decided that it was time again to plan its little joke. The Pokémon hides inside a nearby bush and waits for the trainer to waltz by. A minute or two passed and no one was coming. _Where are they?_ It grew impatient and poked its head out to look for the two that suddenly disappeared. _Where did they go? Did I actually lose them?_ A smile emerged on its face. It leaves its little hiding spot and was about to celebrate.

"Iris! Now!"

It turns its head and faces the direction of voice and sees Yasashi perched on top of a tree branch. The rustling of a shrub grabbed its attention immediately and sees a brown Pokémon in the air. "Oh for the love of Arceus-" The Eevee tackles it into the ground and holds it down. "Gotcha now." it says sitting on top of the Pikachu. It was about to open its mouth to comment on their formation but Iris made him shut up. "If you say one word about this position, I'm going to knock you out."

Yasashi looks down at the two and smiles. "Great job Iris." he says. He tosses up his Poké Ball and catches it in his hand as he walks closer to the two. "Fine, you got me." The Pikachu defeating admits. It knew that it was only a matter of time until he was caught and there was nothing it could do. Yasashi kneels down and looks at the Pikachu and sighs. "Iris, get off him." She acknowledges and hops onto the grass. The Pikachu was very confused. It looks at Yasashi and he smiles.

"You don't think I'll just catch you without a battle, right?" Yasashi places his Poké Ball onto his waist where he carries the Pokémon he catches and it clicks, a sound that indicates that a Poké Ball has been secured. It looks at Yasashi in wonder but couldn't help but laugh. "Haha, you're on."

The battle was between the wild Pikachu and Yasashi's Eevee. "Okay Iris, let's do our best." Yasashi says pumped for battle. The Pikachu smiles as it looks over at its opponent. "Would hate to hurt that pretty face of yours." it say. The Eevee smiles. "Well this "pretty face" is going to be the one hurting."

The battle begins with Yasashi's Eevee tackling the wild Pikachu. It quickly gets back up and sends a shock straight towards the Eevee. She dodges it nimbly and continues the offense. The Pikachu constantly sends attacks of electricity towards its opponent and was able to land a couple but it wasn't enough. The Eevee disappears suddenly and the wild Pokémon scans the area to try and see where it went. A nearby bush rustles and the Pikachu sends a Thundershock to that position.

"Ha, where are you aiming at?" The voice startles him as he tries to turn around and gets tackled. The Pikachu goes down instantly. It tries to get back up, but falls down.

Yasashi walks up to the defeated Pokémon and takes out a Poké Ball. "You know the deal." he tells it. The Pikachu sighs and struggles again to get up and manages to sit upright. "Yeah, whatever. Go ahead. I won't try to stop you." it replies. Yasashi places the Poké Ball above its head and the Pokémon is sent inside. The ball shakes three times and three little stars pop out signalling the capture.

Yasashi sends out the Pikachu after its capture and asks if it is OK. "After getting my ass handed to me? Of course not!" The Pokémon pouts and Yasashi places his hand on his head. It was confused and was about to take his hand off until suddenly a green aura flowed out from his hand. It closes its eyes and could its body was losing all the stress and tensions from before. In seconds the Pikachu was back to full health.

The Pokémon opens its eyes to see Yasashi smiling. "What did you-… how?" it asks Yasashi. "It's something that I was born with, I think. That can also explain why I can understand you and other Pokémon." Yasashi picks it up and places it on his shoulder and his Eevee climbs on the other. "What is your name by the way?" Yasashi asks the Pikachu. "Hikaru." it tells him. Yasashi opens up his PokéDex and fills out the heading labelled "Name". "Let's head back to the others." Yasashi tells his Eevee. It nods and they head back to the tree at the entrance of the forest.

"Isn't Hikaru usually a girl's name?" the Eevee asks the Pikachu. Yasashi looks at the two. "You must be mistaking it for Hikari, which is a girl's name. Hikaru means 'Light'. Though, it can be given to a female or male so that must be why you are asking." Yasashi tells the two. "They must've liked that name to give it to their son." he continues. The Pikachu looks down at the ground and Yasashi could tell that he should stop pushing the subject. "Or, they thought that it would be wise to use a name can be used for a boy or a girl. So if a girl or boy was born, they wouldn't have to awkwardly choose another name." Iris inputs. They walked the rest of the way with Iris and Hikaru talking about matters that Yasashi just didn't want to listen to, most of them being arguments anyway.

"And that's what happened." Yasashi finishes. Sei-Shun laughs and Mizu tries to hide a smile. "Well now we know the full story." Sei-Shun says to Yasashi. He sighs and looks at his Pikachu and Eevee, the two still talking to each other.

"Pewter City isn't far from here. Let's go." Mizu stands up and starts walking along the eastern path. Yasashi and Sei-Shun stand up and call their Pokémon over, following the winding path leading to Viridian City.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
"Pewter City"

* * *

The three arrived just as the hour hand touched the three o-clock mark. Pewter city was a quiet place, the hustle and bustle usually found in urban areas was non-existent.

Yasashi, Sei-Shun, and Mizu stopped by at the Pokémon Centre to rejuvenate their Pokémon. Yasashi changed his ruined clothes to a clean set in a changing room and they sat down at the lounge area to discuss what they should do

"Any ideas?" Sei-Shun asks the two. Yasashi ponders in his head and Mizu stares at her Sentret. "How about the Pewter Museum of Science?" Yasashi tells the two. "I'm up for it, Mizu? Your input?" She shrugs and agrees to the plan. "Well, to the museum!" Sei-Shun ecstatically yells.

It wasn't a long walk to from the Pokémon Centre to the Pewter Museum of Science. The building was only north and because of the quietness of the urban city, nobody had to be anywhere as quick as possible. The slowness only aided there experience. The three made it to the building in only about ten to fifteen minutes.

They enter the building and were greeted by a large room decorated with various displays. "This place is massive!" Sei-Shun exclaims. Yasashi looks around for the counter to pay the admission fee and finds one to his right. He approaches the counter and the women behind it greets him. He gives the women his I.D. and she nods her head. "Hmm, so you all graduated from Oak Academy. I see. That'll be 300 Poké Dollars." _It seems like since we graduated, we're not considered children anymore. I am still fourteen, but I guess that doesn't matter. Admission fee for adults is 100 instead of 50 Poké Dollars. _Yasashi pays for the three to enter and hands each of them a slip of paper that allows them access to the various exhibits in the museum. The major exhibits that were gone a year ago were back, which meant that free entry policy the past year was now removed.

The first floor contained the Fossil Exhibit, the main attraction of the Pewter Museum of Science. Fossils from Pokémon long ago are found in cases along with a plaque that describes what they are and how old the fossil is estimated to be.

"…and here is the fossil uncovered in Mt. Moon fifteen years ago by a certain well known individual." a voice is heard near the three. Yasashi turns his head and sees who it was that was giving a tour of the museum. He nudges the two and they follow him.

"Brock?" Yasashi calls out. The man turns and faces the three with a smile. "Oh, are you the new trainers from Pallet Town? I heard rumours about this, but now I know that it's not a hoax." Brock was a tall man with brown hair, an orange V-neck shirt, a black undershirt, and green pants. He wore brown shoes and has black eyes.

"Yes. My name is Yasashi Ikiru." Yasashi introduces himself. "I'm Sei-Shun Hayashi." Sei-Shun says with a large smile. "Mizu Kuria, a pleasure to meet you." Mizu says slightly bowing her head. Brock looks at the three individually and nods his head. He places his right hand on the side of his thigh and his left hand on his chin and smiles. "As you already know, my name is Brock. I'm the Pewter City Gym Leader. Today I'm taking a day off from my usual job to be a tour guide of this museum. Would you like to join us?" He gestures to the three. "Of course!" Yasashi excitingly says.

The Gym Leader leads the group to the second floor to tour the Space Exhibit. "Here you'll find a replica of the Space Shuttle that the Americans used on July 20, 1969 to land on the moon." Yasashi and the group stare in awe at the shuttle named Apollo 11 on the side. The group follow Brock back to the first floor.

"And now we approach the end of our tour. I hope you all had a great time in this museum and will tell all your friends about it." The group disperses and started to leave the museum but Yasashi and the others decided to stay. Machines behind the counter catches Sei-Shun's eye and he asks Brock what they were.

"Those are the machines we use to revive fossils from long ago. With the work with our scientists from Cinnabar, we were able to bring back Pokémon that have been extinct for so long. Of course, they are placed in a special habitat where they are able to live in comfort, but other than that trainers that come across these extinct Pokémon can revive them here and use them for battle if they like." Brock explains.

Yasashi stares at the various machineries and at the tubes filled with some unknown liquid. Suddenly, images started to appear in his mind with men in lab coats and what appears to be him in one of the tubes. They all carried a clipboard and various forms of data were written on them. _What…What is all this? _The images transitioned to different scenes with him and the scientists. Needles, vials, and other lab instruments flashed in his mind. He tries to look at the scientists' faces, but they were all the same. They were all indistinguishable from each other. All he could see was the white glare of their glasses. Any words spoken were mere mumbles to him. A ringing sound surfaces and a massive headache gives Yasashi a nosebleed. He places his finger under his nose and looks at the blood on it. Iris takes notice of this and asks him worryingly, "Yasashi, are you OK?" The others notice too and he looks at them and then at his Pokémon. "I…I'm fine. Just a nosebleed, that's all." he tells her. She was still worried. He wipes the blood away with a napkin and tries to remember those ambiguous scenes. _What did I just see? Was that really me in that test tube? Why- Why is this happening? What's going on?_

The three trainers waved goodbye to Brock as they left the museum. They found another place to stay for the time being at a nearby Inn called "Ishi Inn". Sei-Shun and Mizu leaves the room to use the public baths. Yasashi said that he would join them eventually and decided to stay behind for a bit.

Iris was still worried about what happened at the museum and asks him if was really fine. "Are you sure you're OK?" she asks him. "Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." he tells her. He could tell that she didn't believe him but he doesn't want her to worry. He stands up and brings a fresh set of clothes. "You want to come? Tim and Anne are with Sei and Mizu at the moment, and I don't want you to be alone." Iris nods her head and hops on Yasashi's shoulder. "Of course I'll come. But what will the others do?" Yasashi knew that she was talking about the other Pokémon in their bags and told her that they were asleep.

On the path to the bath, Yasashi spots something in a nearby alleyway. A shadow was on a wall and he recognises it as the man from graduation day. He approaches the alley and tells Iris to stay put. "Wait here, I'll be back in a bit." She nods in agreement and watches him enter the alley. He was in full view so she would be able to tell if he was in danger or not.

"Who's there?" Yasashi questions. No answer. At that moment, a man in a dark cloak appears out of the shadows and the red sash on his waist glowed in the night. He approaches Yasashi and looks at him and then at his Pokémon. Not a sound was uttered and Yasashi grew nervous as well as scared. "I-I said, who are you?" he repeats himself. The man turns and Yasashi could see the man's eyes, rather, the man's eye. His right eye was covered by an eye patch and there were faint marks of a cut around it. The other was crimson, it's glow made Yasashi's skin crawl. No words were exchanged until the man suddenly spoke.

"Be wary of the events that will take place tomorrow. A great evil of the past has surfaced once again. Don't do anything reckless, Mr. Ikiru." He turns around and pivots his head to see Yasashi. "Be cautious. You may be confident in the recovery abilities of your body, but everything has its limits." He walks back into the shadows and blended in with the dark. "Wait, what do you mean-" The man disappears into the darkness, leaving Yasashi in a state of wonder.

_Who was that man? How did he know my name? Don't do anything reckless? What will happen tomorrow? _

Yasashi leaves the alleyway and his Eevee hops back on his shoulder. She asks him who that was but he told her that he doesn't know.

Yasashi finds the nearby hot springs that Sei-Shun and Mizu were at and checks in. Several thoughts went through Yasashi's mind about the whole ordeal, but only one was definite.

_Whatever happens, I'll make sure my friends are safe. No matter what._


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
"The Return"

* * *

A group of shady-looking men enter the Pewter Museum of Science. The visitors barely notice them and the security took note of their presence. All of them wore a cloak hiding their body and face. One of them carrying a suitcase places it behind one of the displays. He looks at another and they nod. The man moves away from the suitcase and the other pulls out a small cylindrical device with a button on it and presses it.

…

A large explosion wakes up the three, Sei-Shun falls off of his bed and lands face first on the floor. Sirens outside get louder and eventually become distant as they jump out of bed.

"What was that?" Sei-Shun asks as he get up and runs towards the window. His eyes focus on the large commotion and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What's happening, what do you see?" Mizu asks him. He turns his head to meet her eyes. "It's the Pewter Museum of Science. It's on fire." Mizu's eyes widen as she hears what he says. "We have to do something, c'mon guys, we gotta go!" Sei-Shun picks up his belt with his Poké Balls attached to it and rushes out the door. "Wait! Sei!" Mizu grabs her backpack and her Sentret and follows. Yasashi stares out the window at the raging fire at the museum. "Yasashi?" He turns his head and sees his Eevee staring worryingly at him. His Pikachu looks at him too with the same look. "We have to help too. Let's get going." He grabs his belt with the Poké Balls and runs out to join the others.

The fire department as well as the police department of Pewter City were trying their best to get everyone out of the burning building. "C'mon! Move it! We need to hurry it up so more people can come out!" A policeman is heard yelling.

Sei-Shun asks what was going on to the policeman and why there was a fire. "We don't know. All we know is that there is a fire and there are still people are trapped inside. You're a trainer right? Can you help?" Sei-Shun nods his head and charges in the front door. Mizu calls out for him as he enters and Yasashi arrives just as she does. "Where's Sei?" He asks her. She points toward the door and tells him that he rushed in. "Mizu, stay here." Yasashi follows after Sei-Shun and Mizu is left looking after the people that made it out.

Yasashi sees a couple trying to find their way out and helps point them in the right direction. Iris and Hikaru were finding Pokémon that were also lost and did the same.

"The exit's over here!" Yasashi says to a group of people. In the midst of the fire, he sees a man in black wearing a black hat. The man turns around to see Yasashi and he smiles. "So, we got another hero now do we?" Something caught Yasashi's attention on the ground next to him and his eyes widened. Sei-Shun was on the floor unconscious his Poké Balls in the hands of the man. He raises a cane in his hand and approaches Yasashi.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit. It'll hurt a lot." a sinister smile runs across the man's face and Yasashi stares at the large red "R" on the man's shirt. _A Team Rocket member?_

The man swings the cane at Yasashi, but he was faster. Yasashi elbows the man in the stomach and grabs the Sei-Shun's Pokémon from the man's hand. Yasashi was in a state of bewilderment at what he just did._ How did I?_ The grunt recovers from the blow and faces Yasashi furiously.

"Why you little-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Yasashi swings his fist and it lands on the man's nose. He jumps back and grabs his bleeding nose. "Fuck! You'll pay for that you brat!" At that moment, the Team Rocket grunt grips his cane with both hands and pulls it apart, revealing a hidden blade. _Damn, these guys mean serious business, but…_ Yasashi looks over to Sei-Shun on the floor. _I have to get him out first._

The grunt lunges at Yasashi and he nimbly dodges it. Yasashi grabs the grunt and pushes him to the ground. He then lands a blow on the back of the grunt's neck. The man becomes unconscious and doesn't get back up.

Yasashi grabs Sei-Shun's arm. "C'mon Sei, I'm getting you out of here." He looks around and spots the entrance of the burning building. He wraps his friend's arm over him and helps him out.

Outside, Mizu was helping the ones who escaped to try and calm down and reunite them with their families. She hears her name and turns around to see Sei-Shun on Yasashi's back. She rushes to him and helps him. "What happened in there?" she asks. He looks at her and says two words.

"Team Rocket."

His words sent a chill down her spine. "They're inside, most likely the ones responsible for the fire too. Take care of Sei-Shun, I need to make sure everyone inside gets help." He leaves her with their friend and rushes back into the burning building.

As soon as he enters, he hears a cry.

_That cry… No… Iris!_

He pinpoints where the cry came from and heads off in that direction.

Meanwhile, Hikaru was helping other Pokémon find the exit when he hears the same cry. "Iris?" He looks around and rushes off to find her.

Iris was on the floor with a gash wound in her stomach. She was lightheaded and was at the brink of being unconscious. "I told you not to hurt it." A grunt says to another.

"Well it was about to attack me."

"Honestly, weaklings like you would get their ass kicked by puny Pokémon like this."

"Whatever, hey this is a rare one, isn't it?"

One of the grunts looks at wounded Eevee closely and smiles as he scratches his beard. "Yeah, it is! Heh, we'll get a pretty handsome cut if we bring it to the boss, eh?" he tells the other one. They both laugh and one of them reaches for a Poké Ball.

A tear forms from Iris's eye. _Yasashi…Hikaru…help…_

Right before the grunt is about to use it, he gets electrocuted. "What the-" The grunt gets hit with a Thundershock as well and a Pikachu jumps out from the smoke. He looks at his friend in horror. "Oh my god, Iris!" He places his hand on her head and she struggles to look at him. "Hi-, Hikaru?" He nods. "Yeah, it's me. C'mon, we need to get help quick."

One of the grunts was still able to move and spots the Pikachu. "A straggler, eh? Time to teach you a lesson!" He raises his blade and rushes to the Pokémon. "Take this!" The grunt swings his blade and blood splatters on the floor.

…

"AHHHH!"

A scream is heard coming from inside the museum as Mizu tries to wake Sei-Shun up. _That voice!_ She turns her head to look at the Pewter Museum's entrance with people still coming out and the fire still raging on. _It can't be…_

Hikaru turns around to his trainer on his knees screaming in pain. "Ya-, Yasashi?" Iris looks up and sees blood dripping on the floor from Yasashi's face. The grunt regains his posture and smiles at the three. "Oh? What's this? Your trainer comes to the rescue only to get himself hurt." He walks closer to Yasashi and forces him down on the floor. "Now you watch as I take care of your Pokémon, oh wait!" He points the blade to Yasashi's face. "You can't!"

Blood streams down from where Yasashi's eyes are closed and he faces the grunt. A small cut between his eyes is also open and blood seeps out from there too. "Don't you dare lay a finger on them." he threatens. The grunt laughs. "Oh? And what will you do? You lost your eyes! You can't possibly think that you can do anything!"

_He's right. Dammit! This pain! Hikaru, Iris… _He curses and faces the direction of his Pokémon.

The grunt raises his blade to the Pokémon behind Yasashi. "I have a different idea. How about this." He grabs Yasashi by his shirt's collar and places the blade over his neck. "You get to watch me gut your trainer!" Hikaru looks at Iris. "Iris?" She could hear the fear in his voice.

_Yasashi…no…_

A large explosion behind Yasashi and the grunt sends them both flying. The grunt lands on the floor with a cracking sound and lays there motionless. Yasashi is sent towards the wall and lands on a protruding metal pipe. He lets out another cry of pain and Hikaru stares in horror. "Yasashi!" He places Iris's head down slowly and rushes towards his bleeding trainer. "Yasashi!" he cries again. Yasashi faces Hikaru and he could tell that tears were flowing down his eyes. _Arceus dammit! This pain is unbearable! But, I need to get Hikaru and Iris to safety. "_Hi-, Hikaru." he weakly says. "You…you need to get Iris out of here…"

"But-"

"Please, get her help… I-…I'll be fine…" He coughs up blood and it splatters all over his shirt.

"Yasashi!"

"GO!"

The Pikachu wipes away his tears and nods. He moves towards Iris and picks her up, her blood still coming out from the wound. He turns toward the direction of the exit and rushes out, not turning around with tears flowing out of his eyes. Iris could barely see as Yasashi gets farther and farther away. _Yasashi! _She tries to struggle and get free of Hikaru's grip but she couldn't. _No…_

Sei-Shun lets out a groan and Mizu hears him. "Sei? Sei! Wake up!" she continues to shake him and his eyes open immediately. "Mizu?" He jumps up and looks around for his Pokémon. "Don't worry, they're all her in their Poké Balls. Tim's here too." She raises his belt with six Poké Balls attached and he sighs in relief. "Where's Yasashi?" he asks her. She tells him that he is still inside.

As soon as she says that, a Pikachu carrying a wounded Eevee exits from the entrance. They spot Mizu and Sei-Shun and head towards them. The two realise who they belonged to. "Wait a minute, you're Hikaru and Iris. Oh my god." Mizu grabs Iris from Hikaru's back and looks at her wound. "What happened in there? And where's Yasashi?" Sei-Shun asks them. Hikaru, tears still flowing from his eyes and blood stains on his body looks back at the burning museum. Sei-Shun looks at Mizu. "Take care of them, I'm going to find Yasashi." Sei-Shun bolts inside the burning building, and disappears into the smoke. "Sei!" Mizu calls out. But he was already out of range.

Mizu takes out a potion and sprays it on Iris's wound. "You'll be fine, I'm here." She looks at Hikaru sobbing next to her. _Be safe Sei, Yasashi._

Sei-Shun searches the burning building and calls out for Yasashi. He hears a moan near him and he finds Yasashi on the floor, a blood puddle underneath him. "Yasashi!" He runs toward his side and sees blood on a metal pipe next to him as well as a hole in his stomach. _The metal pipe must've gone straight through his stomach, this is bad. _"C'mon buddy, we're getting you out." He picks him up and treads slowly toward the direction of the exit. Sei-Shun looks over at his friend and sees that his eyes are closed, along with dried blood under them. _What happened in here?_ He spots the body of a Team Rocket grunt next to him and he bites his lip. _Team Rocket? What are they doing here? Did Yasashi…? No, I can't think about this now, I need to get him out._ He turns away and continues to carry his friend out from the burning building.

Mizu spots the two and sees the blood that covered Yasashi's clothes. She hands Iris to a nurse and she rushes to help Sei-Shun carry Yasashi. "Yasashi! What happened in there?" He groans and turns his head. "M-Mizu? …W-Where's… I-Iris?" he asks her feebly. "She's close, but she's not doing so well. Don't talk, you're energy will only falter."

Paramedics rush to help them and one of them calls for a gurney. "His condition is bad. We need to get him to the hospital." one of them says. The other shakes her head. "The hospital is already full of others that got injured." she tells the other as she tries to stop Yasashi's bleeding. "Let's head to the Pokémon Centre then. It's the only other place with the same equipment." They both nod and place Yasashi onto a stretcher.

He couldn't see, but Yasashi could tell where the voices were coming from. _Iris…Hikaru…_ His Eevee was the only one he can think about as well as Hikaru. The two are placed into the back of one of the ambulance vehicles and they drive off to the Pokémon Centre. "Yasashi?" Iris calls out. He turns his head toward the voice of his Pokémon. "You're going to be fine Iris. I'll make sure of it." he tells her, breathing heavily. She knew that he was dying, but all she could do is stare at her bleeding trainer and a tear forms in her eye.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
"To Save a Friend"

* * *

"Move it!"

"This is an emergency!"

"What's going on?"

"This boy and his Pokémon are in critical condition!"

"Get the emergency department! Stat!"

The whole centre was a complete mess. Trainers flocking from other regions and just people who are there for a check-up for their Pokémon were horrified at the scene before them. The group of medical professionals moved Yasashi and Iris through a set of double doors. Behind them were Sei-Shun and Mizu following close behind their friend. A shadowy figure with his arms crossed was standing, leaning against a wall with nobody aware of his presence. As Sei-Shun's family enter the building along with Yasashi's mother, Professor Oak, and Brock, the man mysteriously vanishes, leaving no trace that he was ever there.

Yasashi and Iris were taken into a large operating room with medical equipment by their sides. The doctors moved from one place to the next to get everything set up. A doctor checks Yasashi's condition as well as Iris's and looks at a nurse. "The Eevee has lost a lot of blood. If we don't get another supply of it, it'll die."

"What's the blood type doctor?" a nurse asks him.

"A-Negative."

The nurse shakes his head. "I'm sorry, doctor. But this Centre doesn't have any more of that type of blood at this centre. The next shipment was supposed to come tomorrow." he tells the doctor. Yasashi could hear the whole conversation as the Emergency Unit works on his wounds. A bandage that surrounded his eyes was tied to stop the blood, but the ones in his body kept flowing; the scarlet liquid was everywhere on the floor. The draining equipment was completely useless.

_Iris… I have to do something! I can't let her die, not like this…_

"Do-… Doctor." he says weakly. The doctor turns around to face him. "Don't talk, you need as much energy as you can." he tells him. Yasashi turns his head in the direction of the voice. "My blood." The doctor looks at him in sorrow. "Yes, I know you're in great pain and the bleeding won't stop. We're doing what we can to-"

"U-use it."

The doctor looks at him is confusion. "U-use my blood." Yasashi tells him. The doctor looks at his wounds and shakes his head. "You're losing a lot of blood as is, you can't possibly-"

"Please! I… don't want her to die. My blood t-type is O-Negative. It's the u-universal donor, so there's n-no worry if the wrong one will b-be used or not. Please…" The doctor could tell that Yasashi would be crying if he could, and he sighs. "Nurse, get me the transfusion machine." A couple seconds later, a large machine is pushed to the doctor and the ED sets up the machine.

Iris's wound was already closed, but the large amount of blood loss caused her to become unconscious. Her breathing was also low and sounded painful. The team inserted a small needle in both Yasashi and Iris and started the transfusion sequence.

Merely seconds later, Yasashi's blood started to course through Iris's body, and the red blood cells started to work. Iris's wound emitted a strange green glow and it started to disappear. The doctor and the ED stare in amazement at what was happening. They look over to Yasashi who has almost lost consciousness. The doctor was about to tell him the great news, until the machine started to beep slower and slower.

"Doctor! We're losing him!" an ED member tells him. "Get me the defibrillator!" he orders. The team brings the doctor a machine with two shock pads attached and the doctor grabs them. "Clear!" an ED member yells. The doctor places the two on Yasashi's body and a shock is sent through the pads. The routine for the defibrillation is carried out over and over, but Yasashi's condition showed no signs of improving.

In a separate room overlooking the whole operation, Mizu with Anne and Sei-Shun with Tim were in the room watching. Sei-Shun's family came to check if he was alright and Yasashi's mother was crying. Prof. Oak was speaking to Brock and so were the Pewter City Police Department.

"What happened in there?" a policeman questions Brock. He shakes his head and tells him that he only has as much information as they do.

"It was Team Rocket."

They all turn to face Sei-Shun who was looking through the glass at his bleeding friend. "They're back, and are the ones responsible for all this." Brock clenches his fists and the policeman question Sei-Shun if he knew anything else. "I'm sorry, all I know is that they hurt Yasashi and his Pokémon and me as well. They attacked the museum for Arceus knows what and…that's all I know…"

The police stop pushing for more information and decided that they should return and run an investigation at the museum, since the fire has already dissipated, as well as a search for any members of Team Rocket in the area. Brock walks next to Sei-Shun and places a hand on his shoulder.

A large commotion in the operating room grabs all of their attention. "Yasashi?" Mizu looks through the glass and sees Yasashi, not moving. Something was horribly wrong. "What's happening in there?" Prof. Oak asks as he walks to the glass window.

"Mother of Arceus. He's only a boy." Sei-Shun's father says. Minutes go by and Yasashi was still unstable. His mother stares at the floor blankly, all the emotion from her face was drained. Hikaru looks at his trainer in horror.

Inside the room, Iris was starting to move again. The loud yelling wakes her up. "Wha-, what's happening?" She looks around the room slowly, still tired, and a nurse sees her. "Doctor! The Pokémon has regained consciousness!" The doctor looks at the Eevee and then at the nurse. "Good, get her into a room for her to lie down. She still needs rest." he orders. The nurse nods and removes the needle from Iris's body. She picks her up and takes her to the double-doors leading out.

_Where's Yasashi? _Iris looks behind the nurse to see that there was a group of people over the body of someone familiar. _Yasashi?_ Her eyes couldn't stay open and she falls back into a state of unconsciousness.

Hikaru sees Iris being taken out and leaves the room to follow her. "Hikaru!" Mizu calls out, but he leaves to see if Iris was okay. "I'll go check on Iris and Hikaru." she tells Sei-Shun and heads after Hikaru. The rest in the room look through the glass window.

"Clear! ...Clear! ...Clear! ..."

The doctor continues to resuscitate Yasashi but he still wasn't moving. The blood stops flowing from his body. The floor was covered in his blood and so were the clothes of the medical team. The doctor performs CPR on him and tries to look for a pulse. The machine produces a loud and constant sound and a line is seen on the screen. "C'mon! C'mon!" The doctor keeps trying and trying until an ED member places a hand on his shoulder.

"Sir…he's gone."

The doctor was panting and looks over at Yasashi. His mouth was open, a small stream of blood was coming from it, and the colour of his body was drained. He was completely pale. "Get me a clipboard." he orders. A nurse hands him one and he grabs a pen from his coat pocket.

_Patient Name: Ikiru Yasashi_

_Time of Death: 16:37:34 PM  
Cause of Death: Large Amounts of Blood Loss_

He looks at the body of his deceased patient again and sighs.

"Sir, I might've found out why his blood never clotted." The doctor turns to look at one of the ED members. "His blood shows no sign platelets. From looking at his bone marrow, it doesn't look like it produces them. Without them, the blood won't clot, and the bleeding won't stop."

"I know the roles of platelets, son." the doctor tells the man. The doctor takes one last look at Yasashi on the table, and shakes his head. He looks through the glass at where Sei-Shun and the rest were looking through and could feel the anguish in the being emitted by the room.

Sei-Shun's arms go limp as he looks at his lifeless friend. "No…" His Zigzagoon looks at him with a sad face and his family looks away. Brock slams his fist on one of the walls and a large crack appears on it. Prof. Oak sits down next to Yasashi's mother to comfort her.

Sei-Shun looks at his family and then at everyone else. His face did nothing to show the amount of grief he was in. _This is my fault, I shouldn't have just ran in there! Dammit! If I would've just waited a bit for others, then Yasashi would've…_ He clenches his fists as tears run down his eyes. Sei-Shun tells them that he'll go tell Mizu the news and they nod in silence.

_I'm sorry Yasashi, it was all my fault…_


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
"End of a Story"

* * *

No one knew how long they were standing in the room. It was as if an eternity had passed. Yasashi's mother stopped crying, but her face was completely drained. She looks at the window and sees her son, completely lifeless on the operating table. Her mind was completely blank and she didn't want to think about the tragedy that just befallen her. Brock took one last glance at Yasashi and his mother, and left the room. Professor Oak sat down with Yasashi's mother.

"I'm sorry for your loss." his words were.

She looks over to him, as if she sobbed for her whole life. Her face was completely covered with dry tears and her eyes were bloodshot red. Her hair was a complete mess. She looks down at her clothes and sees that the entire middle sections had stains of water marks that had previously drenched them. She places her fingers along the bottom parts of her eyes, as if expecting tears to still be there; what she felt was the dryness of the area.

The doctor inside had already called the morgue to prepare the body for a later burial. He looks though the window for a moment and quietly leaves the room.

Hikaru sits near Iris as she slept and Mizu sat next to them, holding her Sentret closely. The room was filled with silence. Suddenly, Sei-Shun enters the room causing Mizu and Hikaru to stand up. Sei-Shun returns their gazes and then looks down, tears fell from his face.

"Sei? What's wrong? What happened? Is Yasashi-?"

Sei-Shun looks at Mizu, and she could see the sorrow that enveloped his face. He tried to speak but choked up instead. Tim looks over at his trainer and felt intense anguish.

"Ya-…Yasashi. He… H-he's d-dead."

The room was suddenly filled with the same dead silence as before, but it was different. The feeling of hope was suddenly gone. Nobody wanted to say a word. Mizu suddenly fell to her knees and stares blankly at the floor. _Yasashi…It can't be…_

Sei-Shun lies down on his knees next to her and places his hand on her shoulder. Hikaru couldn't believe what he heard. He turns towards Iris and saw that she was beginning to wake up. "Iris? Iris!" The Eevee opens her eyes slowly and sees the yellow Pokémon next to her. "Hikaru?" she says slowly. The Pikachu looks at his friend with tears welling up. Suddenly, he hugs Iris and she weakly tries to get up. The yellow Pokémon was sobbing uncontrollably. "Hi…karu? What happened?" she asks. Iris looks around the room and sees Sei-Shun and Mizu on the floor near the entrance, but she could not spot Yasashi anywhere. She looks at Hikaru who was still sobbing and tries to get him off. "Where's Yasa…shi?" she asks groggily. Hikaru looks at her with his exhausted eyes. He looks behind him towards Sei-Shun and Mizu. Sei-Shun looks back at him and almost began crying again. He turns away to hide his face. The Pikachu looks back at the other Pokémon and began choking up while answering her.

"Ya-Yasashi…h-he…he's dead, I-Iris. He d-died…"

Iris couldn't believe what she was hearing. _No…No! It's a lie! He can't be dead!_ But reality faced her and she knew that Hikaru was right. She knew that he wouldn't lie to her in a situation like this. Tears formed at her eyes and she began to sob too, crying out for Yasashi as she did.

Sei-Shun tries to get Mizu on her feet and she complied without hesitation. "What do we do now?" she asks him. Sei-Shun looks at Yasashi's Pokémon on the nearby bed and then back at Mizu. "We…need to keep moving forward. The funeral will be held soon. After that, we need to complete what Prof. Oak entrusted us with. I know Yasashi wouldn't want something like this to bring us down." he told her. She looks at him for a moment longer than a minute, and then nods. "For Yasashi…." she says quietly.

Overlooking the whole scenario was the mysterious man. He stood out the window outside the room filled with sorrow. He looks once inside to see two trainers on the floor, one trying to comfort the other. _I'm sorry Yasashi, it was all my fault…_ He heard one of them say earlier. The thought ran through his earlier and he could feel the sorrowful tone in the words. The man turns and walks away. He sees a couple men move a body to what seems to be the morgue and he trails them. A couple minutes later, he watches the team leave and he enters the room. The room was filled with death, but the stench of decaying flesh was not in the air, not yet anyway. He looks around the room and searches for Yasashi's body and finds it after a while. He looks at the face of the deceased boy. The face appeared calm, one without many stressful experiences, but that didn't mean his heart was the same. The man looks closely at the wounds Yasashi sustained and saw the ones that would not close. He looks at the cleaned area where his eyes were cut and saw the part of the nose that was cut. Footsteps were heard near the door and the man placed everything back in order and disappeared into darkness.

"Oracle, rerun the system." he orders.

"Yes, sir. I will do so immediately." a male voice tells him.

Surrounding the man was a large blue wall of code and he appeared in a dark room. In front of him was a boy, one of familiar form and the man sighs. He then opens his mouth to speak.

"That was reckless…"


	16. True Chapter 14

True Chapter 14  
"Rainbow"

* * *

As he was about to leave the room, a large commotion in the operating room stops him. "What's going on?" Brock asks approaching the window. Sei-Shun runs to see what was happening and his eyes lit up. A familiar green aura was surrounding Yasashi's wounds and they were healing them at a miraculous rate. In seconds, Yasashi's body was full of life once again, and the whole in his stomach was gone. The team inside were yelling and smiling, throwing papers in the air and hugging each other. The doctor ridiculed them for dropping the papers on the bloody floor, but his expression meant that he was happy to see Yasashi alive again.

"Yasashi?" Sei-Shun looks at his friend closely and his chest started to go up and down, which meant he was breathing. Prof. Oak was telling Yasashi's mother the news and she looks up, dry tears under her eyes. After a while, the doctor inside tells the team to move out their patient; Yasashi was being sent out the door and Sei-Shun followed suit.

Mizu was next to Hikaru and Iris in a white room full of beds and curtains. There were enough windows to light up the entire room completely during a clear sunny day. Hikaru places his hand on Iris's head and smiles in relief and worry. The door to the room was suddenly opened with a large thud and someone was carried into one of the open beds. Mizu recognises the doctors as the ones operating on Yasashi before. "What's all the commotion about?" she says. She stands up and sees Sei-Shun at the door catching his breath.

"Sei-Shun!? What're you doing here? Where's-"

"He's gonna to be fine." Sei-Shun tells her smiling. She looks to the ED team and then spots Yasashi in one of the beds. "Yasashi!" she rushes to the side of her friend and the adults leave the room after setting up the life support.

Everyone enters the room after a while and they come to check Yasashi's and Iris's status. They are told that after a week or so they'll be back up and running, Iris predicted to be much earlier. They sigh in relief and Sei-Shun and Mizu asked if they could stay by him. They agreed and left the room.

Sei-Shun holds Mizu's hand suddenly. She was alarmed at this, but doesn't shake him off. She could see the worry in his eyes and their eyes met for just a moment or two. She places her head on his shoulder and he holds her. They shared each other's feelings without any words and they continued to stay at Yasashi's side.

…

…_Where am I?_

Yasashi looks around and he recognises the place he was in. The same place after he fainted in the forest, the space.

_Oh…right, it's this place again._ It was completely pitch black, just like it was before. _I'm here again, but…why?_ He ponders and remembers what happened at the museum and the Pokémon Centre. _That's right! Team Rocket attacked and then…Iris…I hope she's okay…_

A familiar voice broke the silence.

"That was reckless…"

Yasashi turns around and sees the mysterious man again. His form seemed as if he towered Yasashi.

"What? How did you-"

"Your actions, Mr. Ikiru, may have saved the lives of those you hold dear, but at what cost? For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Your decisions, have repercussions. Best to keep that in mind, Mr. Ikiru." The man paces around, his red eye glowing in the darkness, striking fear in Yasashi. The gaze seemed to last for an eternity as the man studied Yasashi's figure. "The cycle continues, it seems. How far will you go to save the ones you love? What will be sacrificed? No… a better question would be who will be sacrificed." He ends his speech and disappears into the darkness once again.

"Wait! What did-…"

At that moment, a bright light appears in the distance. _That light… But…that man… _He turns around as if to try and spot him again, but knew that he was already gone. _Who is he? _He pushes away his thoughts walks closer and closer to the light and hears his name being called. The intensity of the light grew stronger, and everything was completely white again.

Yasashi awakens to see two figures behind a bandage over his eyes. "You're back!" Sei-Shun says gleefully. Yasashi faces him and then Mizu who was next to him. He could see the contour of their bodies and perhaps a bit of colour, but it was still a blur. "Sei? Mizu? What…happened?" He places a hand on his head and tries to shrug off his grogginess. "Where's Iris?" he asks them. Sei-Shun looks over to the bed across the room. Hikaru and Iris were talking to each other and they seemed to be in a cheerful mood. The sound of his voice made Iris turn her head and she hops off of the bed.

"Yasashi?" she says as she sees him. He smiles and she jumps on the bed to hug him. "Yasashi! You're okay!" The Pokémon was crying tears of joy. Yasashi could feel her sorrow and happiness and embraces her tightly. "I'm happy that you're alright." Hikaru sees the two and he joins in. "Glad to see you too, Hikaru."

Yasashi's mother enters the room and sees Yasashi up and her mouth opens slowly, her eyes lighting up. "Yasashi!" she yells rushing at him. Before she embraces him, Iris and Hikaru jump out of the way and Yasashi's lungs could be heard emptying. She holds him tightly and he struggle to get her off. "Mom. Mom! Can't…breathe…" She lets him go and everyone starts to laugh. Yasashi coughs and looks around at everyone and smiles.

"How long was I out?" he asks, letting out a small cough. Sei-Shun tells him that he's been unconscious for a week. _That long? _The door suddenly opens and Prof. Oak walks through. "Mr. Ikiru, I see that you're okay." He walks to the bed and pets Hikaru and Eevee next to him.

A doctor walks through and they all recognise him as the one that worked on Yasashi in the operating room. "Hello, my name is Doctor Ishi Sai. I'm here to talk to Mr. Ikiru." He pulls up a chair and places it in an empty spot next to the bed. "We analysed your blood, and it appears that there is a problem, a serious problem. The platelets normally found the blood of living beings are absent in yours. This is a serious health risk. A fatal risk, actually." The doctor looks at his clipboard and sighs. "I'm sure that you're all aware that platelets are what allow the blood to clot when the skin is damaged. When we contacted the Viridian City Hospital, they did say that after analysing your blood samples, there was a significant decrease in your platelets, close to around five percent of the average amount seen in blood. Now they're all gone, and we don't know why." He looks at Yasashi sternly. "I know that we can't stop you from trying to help, but be careful. Once you're injured, it's not going to heal. _Ever_ again." He stands up and looks at everyone in the room. The doctor nods his head and says his farewells. "Don't worry about the medical bill. The Pewter City Community decided to pay because of your help at the museum." He leaves the room and leaves them all in silence.

Yasashi looks at the figures behind the bandage and starts to take it off. "Yasashi, your eyes." Mizu tells him. He remembers that his eyes were cut by the Team Rocket grunt at the museum, but somehow his vision seemed fine and he wanted to see the damage. He unties the bandage and places it on his lap. The others look at him and gasp. "What's wrong?" he asks. They all were astonished, and his Pikachu was the one to point out why they were shocked. "You-you're eyes." Hikaru points to Yasashi's eyes and he has no idea what they were going on about. Mizu looks inside her bag and pulls out a small handle mirror. Yasashi looks at himself in the mirror and couldn't believe what he saw. Both of his eyes were not brown anymore. His right iris was a blue ring and an inner red ring surrounding his pupil and his left iris was a green ring and an inner yellow ring.

"W-what?" he continues to look at himself and then turns to face the others. "You're eyes are different colours, but…why?" Prof. Oak asks. Yasashi tries to acquire an answer, but none of them could explain why his eyes changed.

"Are you going to be fine, Yasashi?" He turns to see his Eevee, extremely worried and he smiles. "I'll be okay, I can still see so that's a plus." He scratches her head and she smiles back.

"Yasashi, see what I can do now!" Iris suddenly hops on the bed and began to glow. In seconds, she became a Vaporeon right in front of him! "Iris! When did-" Yasashi starts. She then turns into a Flareon, a Jolteon, an Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Glaceon. She turns back into and Eevee and giggles. "You can change back too!?" Yasashi grabs her and both of them laugh in glee. Suddenly, Iris's fur turned from the normal brown colour to a silver glow. Sparkles were emitted from her new silver body. Everyone in the room was astonished and she giggles.

Prof. Oak was writing something down into a notebook and said that he needed to leave, something about a new "finding".

Yasashi was familiar with Iris's new appearance and he remembered reading that there was a special case in the Pokémon World in which Pokémon would have a different colouration. Stats wise, they were the same but their new appearance would glisten and when sent out of a Poké Ball, sparkles would come out. They were deemed, "Iro Chigai" or "Shiny" Pokémon.

Yasashi and the rest continue to converse with each other until Yasashi had an idea. "Oh right! We're in Pewter City! Brock is the Gym Leader, I should go challenge him." he was very excited at this idea and so was Iris. "That's great son, but you should get a change of clothes first." his mother tells him. Yasashi looks at himself and sees bandages all over his body.

"Well, I for one already did that." Sei-Shun looks inside his bag and pulls out a box and opens it, revealing the Boulder Badge. "When did you-" Mizu was about to ask him and he answers before she finishes. "Earlier this week, I decided to go over and challenge Brock. Staying here with Yasashi and all is fine, but Tim and I were close and he was very eager to challenge him. _Very_ eager." He scratches the back of his head and Mizu sighs. Tim smiled and jumped on Sei-Shun's lap. "That's why you were gone for so long." Yasashi looks at Iris and she knew what he was going to say.

"I'm ready when you are." she tells him. He nods his head and looks at his friends. "Are you sure you're fine with me leaving so soon?" Yasashi asks his mother. She shakes her head. "I've gotten used to you getting yourself in trouble lately, saving your friends and all that. I promised myself that I'd be ready the next time something like this happens. I'll still shed tears over it, but I'll know that you did it for something good, and that's all that matters." his mother smiles. "Thanks, mom." Yasashi turns towards his friends and nod. "Tomorrow, we're heading to the Pewter City Gym."


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
"The Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer"

* * *

Their family bid them farewell once again the next morning. Yasashi sent a challenge request yesterday and Brock replied telling him that he was open for a match. "From what happened last week I thought you weren't going to make it, I'm glad that I was wrong about that. I'm open for challenges tomorrow. Most trainers just walk in without making a request. We're used to that now, but it's nice to see that the old ways aren't dead yet." Brock told him over the phone.

As they made their way toward the Gym, they were greeted by the residents of Pewter City. Many offered money which they insisted the three take. Sei-Shun placed the envelopes he was given in his bag instead of placing it in his wallet. Mizu notices this and asks him why. "I'm not one for taking other people's money for personal use. I send all the money I make to my family, and the only money I get is a monthly allowance from my parents." he tells her. She asks him why he does this and he replies saying, "I'm the one that is supporting the family financially. Mom and Dad lost their jobs after some fiasco. Of course, that company later became bankrupt and they were never able to get another job. My career as a musician is very important to me. Not only do I get to do the things I love, I also get to help my family. I've never really bought anything for myself, other than maybe a few bottles of water when I was younger, other than that, I usually gave it away to charity, or something like that. That's all that matters to me. Family and friends…" Mizu hugs her Sentret tighter as she thinks of her own family in Sinnoh. _Father… I hope I'm making you proud…_

The three made it to the Gym after a couple minutes. The sliding entrance door opens and chilly breeze greets them as they enter. The gigantic room was adorned with a Japanese rock garden. Its interior was as if the inside was larger than the exterior. The sound of a man next to one of the statues in the front waves to the three and they approach him.

"Yo! Champ in the making! You look… really rocking." They stare at him unamused after his pun and he laughs nervously. "Welcome to the Pewter City Gym! I'm the Gym guide, you'll see me and my cohorts whenever you enter a Gym." he says. He looks to Sei-Shun and shakes his hand. "I remember you! Sei-Shun, right? That was a great battle the other day! Kept me on my toes the whole time!" Mizu sighs and Sei-Shun scratches his head. On one of the statues, there was an engraving with Sei-Shun's name. "And, you must be Yasashi!" The man grabs Yasashi's hand and shakes it. "Brock is looking forward to the match." He looks to one of Yasashi's shoulder and spots Iris. "Oh? Another normal type? And…" He sees Hikaru on the other shoulder and smiles. "An electric type? Reminds me of a certain trainer four years ago. Of course, he had other Pokémon with him, but rarely used them with Brock." He looks at Iris closer and she tries to hide behind Yasashi. The man laughs. "Bashful, huh? Well, it's nice to meet you. Anyway! You should head up to Brock for that challenge! You might see one or two trainers along the way though, so be prepared." He smiles and walks back to the statue he was at before.

Yasashi looks at Iris and she nods her head. Mizu was scorning Sei-Shun and Yasashi smiles. While walking the stone path, Yasashi noticed that there were different paths branching from the main walkway that allowed others to bypass the two Gym trainers. Yasashi didn't much care for that, as he wanted the challenge of battling all the trainers in the Gym before Brock. Moving ahead, there was a Camper named Toshi and he challenges Yasashi to a battle. He sends out a Geodude and Yasashi sends out Iris and she turns into a Vaporeon. One Water Gun was only necessary to win the fight. "Everyone and their Water-types…" Toshi mumbles. He congratulates Yasashi and heads back to where he was standing before. Another Camper named Kazu challenges Yasashi and sends out a Sandshrew. Iris ends the battle again with another Water Gun and there was a large staircase that led to Brock.

The Gym Leader was standing on a large stone pedestal. His arms were crossed and he spots the three as they made their way up. He places his hands on his waist and smiles. "Looks like you made short work of the other trainers in this Gym. As I expected from the trainers of Pallet." Yasashi smiles and looks at Iris who was still a Vaporeon, her violet skin radiating in the light. "Not often do we see a Shiny around here, but no matter. You already know this, but I'm Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader. Rules are rules, and formalities are part of them. I'm an expert on Rock-type Pokémon. My Pokémon are impervious to most physical attacks. You'll have a hard time inflicting any damage. Though, with a Water-type, I'm sure that won't be the case." Iris giggles and Yasashi gives a small smile. "I'll be using the Pokémon I've always used for new trainers taking on the League Challenge, the same ones Pokémon Trainer Red and everyone else fought." Brock stood on one of his knees and placed a Poké Ball on the floor next to him. A smile spreads across his face. "My Pokémon are all rock hard, and have true grit-determination. Come on! Show me your best!"

A monitor acting as the scoreboard behind Brock turns on and shows a portrait of the two as well as Poké Balls next to them to signify how much Pokémon each person has. Brock carried two and so did Yasashi. His Pidgey was with Sei-Shun's Rattata and Mizu's Sentret at the Pokémon Centre playing with other Pokémon. Yasashi looks at Iris and she nods. Yasashi looks back at the Gym Leader and he returns the gaze. _That look, it reminds me so much about Red… That determination. That strong will! I remember clearly._

"Go, Geodude!" Brock yells as he throws a Poké Ball. It bursts open and a Geodude comes out of it. It gives out a battle cry. "Go, Iris!" His Pokémon leaps from beside her trainer and prepares for battle. The monitor shows both of their Pokémon and a health bar for each starts to fill to max. "Use Water Gun!" Yasashi yells. Iris opens her mouth and a stream of water shoots out. The Geodude becomes drenched in water and it drops to the floor. The health bar on the monitor was depleted entirely. The Pokémon becomes encompassed in a ball of light and a Poké Ball forms, returning to the Gym Leader's hand. He takes out another and throws it. "Go! Onix!" The Poké Ball bursts open and a large rock serpent appears. It was massive and its shadow took almost half the battlefield. It gave a resonating cry and it almost lifted the Vaporeon off its feet. Iris looks to Yasashi for reassurance and he gives her a thumbs up. She nods and looks back at the massive Pokémon. "Use Water Gun!" Yasashi yells again. She shoots out another stream of water and the Onix braces for the impact. Over three quarters of its health was reduced until there was a small red section. "Onix! Use Rock Tomb!" Brock yells. The Onix gives out a cry and four rocks appear above Iris and comes down. About under a fifth of her the health bar was depleted and Iris stands back up as strong as ever. "Okay Iris! Finish it with another Water Gun!" Iris jumps into the air and shoots water straight at the Onix once more. The gigantic Pokémon falls over and returns to Brock. He sighs and looks over to Yasashi who is celebrating with Iris. The monitor shows Yasashi's portrait with the words "Winner!" under it.

After settling down, Yasashi approaches Brock. He gives him a thumbs up and Yasashi smiles. "You're Pokémon's attacks overcame my rock-hard resistance… You're stronger than I expected…not really, I knew you would be strong after facing Sei-Shun. He said that you were stronger than him, and now I knew he wasn't lying. As proof of your victory, I confer to you this… the official Pokémon League Boulder Badge." He hands the badge to Yasashi and he takes it. "Thank you." he tells Brock. The Gym Leader smiles and Yasashi places the badge in his badge case. "Just having the Boulder Badge makes your Pokémon more powerful." Brock walks to the back and turns a couple stones to open a secret latch. He opens it and takes out some Poké Dollars and hands it to Yasashi. "Official League Rules, here's your money reward for winning. I really enjoyed the battle with you, Yasashi!" Yasashi nods and prepares to walk out.

"Wait! Almost forgot." Brock hands him a disk with the label TM39 on it. "A TM, Technical Machine, contains a technique for Pokémon. Using a TM teaches the move it contains to a Pokémon. A TM is good for one use, since it'll break. So, when you use one, pick the Pokémon carefully. I heard that there are groups of researchers who are working on it so it won't be destroyed after use, but we won't know when that come. Anyways… TM39 contains Rock Tomb. It hurls large boulders at the foe and lowers its speed, sometimes." Yasashi thanks him and places the TM in his TM Case and leaves the Gym with the others.

_That boy, he reminds me so much about Red. Other than the dead giveaway with his clothes, just the vibe he has when in battles is so similar… I can't put it in words, but they're like the same._

The man next to the statues grabs a new plate with the engravings of the winning challengers on it and replaces the current one. "Ikiru Yasashi" was placed under Sei-Shun's name.

As the three left, they discover that the Gym challenge took about an hour to complete. "You sure you don't want to take the challenge, Mizu?" Sei-Shun asks her. She looks at him in the eye and shakes her head. "Yes. I'm sure." She quietly replies with a serious tone. Yasashi couldn't help but feel the same uneasiness with the subject. "I'm sure she has her reasons. Best not to linger on the subject." Yasashi tells Sei-Shun. He sighs and agrees. The trio head to the Pokémon Centre to call back their Pokémon and to make sure everyone was nice and healthy.

"Where to now?" Sei-Shun asks. Yasashi opens his Town Map on his Pokégear and looks east. "We head across Route 3, and through Mt. Moon. After that, we'll head to Cerulean City via Route 4." Yasashi looks at Iris playing with Hikaru nearby. Around them were many other trainers and some carried a Pikachu with them. Yasashi ponders a thought and looks inside his bag. He takes out a small red ribbon band and walks to Hikaru. The Pikachu looks up at his trainer in confusion as he ties the ribbon around his left hind leg. "What's this for?" Hikaru asks observing the ribbon. "Just wanted something to make you look different from the other Pikachu others have." Yasashi stands up and Hikaru moves around with the ribbon, not feeling any impairment to his moving.

As they head to the road leading to Route 3, Yasashi observed more and more trainers and people with a Pikachu as well and he picks up his pace. Mizu and Sei-Shun catch up and they question why Yasashi made that sudden movement change. "Apparently everyone has a Pikachu in this place, home of the Rock-type gym too." As they exit the city, Yasashi throws his arms up in the air and yells, "How in the Distortion World does everyone have a Pikachu!?"


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
"Mt. Moon"

* * *

The three made their way through Route 3 battling trainer after trainers and caught several Pokémon along the way. Yasashi caught an Ekans, Sei-Shun a Spearow, and Mizu a Jigglypuff. "I think that's all we can here. Well, other than the Zubats, but that's at night and it's still a bit past noon." Yasashi tells the two from his book. Sei-Shun shrugs. "It's fine. Zubats are normally found in caves so we might run into one at Mt. Moon." Mizu looks at Sei-Shun oddly and looks away before anyone would notice.

Iris was still worried about what happened when they entered Route 3 and asked Yasashi about it. "Hm? I'm fine, Iris. You don't need to worry." he reassures her. She slumps on his shoulder, still lingering on the thought about what happened before.

Once the trainers entered Route 3, and after Yasashi's random outburst, they wanted to visit the nearby meteorite craters. When they entered the area, the trainers decided to let their Pokémon out of their Poké Balls and to wait a bit until they start heading out to Mt. Moon. That, and they wanted their Pokémon to get along with each other. In the midst of this, Yasashi felt a strange pulling sensation to the meteorites. When he approached one, his mind started to get foggy. Images flashed in his mind one by one. Some with people with Pokémon, others with just them alone….separated with tears. The tear of one Pokémon falls from its face and lands on the floor. It turned a darker colour, crimson. Blurry images of blood and the dead flashed before him. After a while, the images felt like they were being shoved into his head. A massive headache and a ringing sound accompanied these images.

_Ack, I can't think straight! What is happening? What…what are these?_ Yasashi holds his head as he sits down next to the meteorite. Unfamiliar voices arose along with the images he has never seen before and this made it even worse. _The pain is unbearable! _He closes his eyes and his face muscles tensed. His small groans of pain was overheard by Hikaru and he goes to see what was going on.

"Yasashi?" The sound of his Pikachu's voice snaps Yasashi out of the intense pain. His mind was clear again and the images stopped. Iris sees Hikaru with Yasashi slouched over and heads over to see what was going on. "Yasashi? Are you okay?" Iris says worryingly. He looks up at her and Hikaru. "I'm… I'm fine. It's nothing." he tells them. "But… Your face is red, and your nose is bleeding. Did something happen?" Hikaru asks. Yasashi places his finger under his nose and looks at the blood on his finger. He wipes it away with a tissue inside one of his pockets and shakes his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Almost everything he said made Iris and Hikaru worry about their trainer even more. They both look at each other and thought the same thing. "Come on, let's see everyone is ready to go." Yasashi stands up and walks toward the group of Pokémon playing with each other. His legs felt like they were about to give and he almost loses his balance.

Sei-Shun was playing his guitar while Mizu was busy drawing something in her notebook. Mizu looks at Yasashi as he approaches them and sees his face all red and part of his hair ruffled. He was walking all wobbly. Sei-Shun finishes playing his guitar and notices the same thing. "Yasashi? What happened? Why is your face all red?" Mizu asks him, getting up to try and support her friend. He tells her that it was nothing but she and Sei-Shun could tell something was wrong. "Didn't something similar like this happen at the museum?" Sei-Shun says. Yasashi recalls that he had a nosebleed at the Pewter City Museum a while back and nods. "Yeah, something like that." he weakly tells them. "You sure you want to up right now? I mean, you can rest if you want. We're in no rush to get to Cerulean City, so-" Yasashi cuts Mizu off and tells her again that he was fine. He breathes in slowly and regains his posture. His face returned to normal and felt okay again. Yasashi looks at his friends, their faces not entirely believing of his reassurance. _I'm…fine…really_… "Is everyone ready!?" Yasashi yells aloud. The group of Pokémon head their way and all of them nod their head and say that they were. Iris and Hikaru jump on their trainer's shoulder and Mizu picks up Anne. They returned some of their Pokémon into their Poké Balls and head off toward Mt. Moon. A Pokémon Centre sat next to the entrance of the mountain and the trainers rested their Pokémon there before entering the cave.

The interior of Mt. Moon was dark and cold. Mizu found herself close to Sei-Shun and moved away quickly. He saw her sudden movement and smiled. As they moved through the cave, Yasashi heard voices in the distance moving closer in their direction.

"Man, why do we 'ave to do this?"

"Idiot! The ones sent before got wiped out, remember?"  
"Damn, who'd ya think could 'ave done that?"

"Did you not read the damn report? Some guy with a red sash and an 'R' on it. We don't know how he could've killed them so quickly, but that son of a bitch has got one thing comin' for fuckin' with Team Rocket."

_Team Rocket? That means…_ Two men appear in front of the three wearing similar black clothes and a red "R" on their shirts. "Trainers? Damn, I wanted to finish this job quickly." one of them says scratching the back of his head. The other reaches for something concealed behind his back and Yasashi recognises the item as a firearm. _Shit, this is bad. I need to do something before things get worse, but what? _Mizu holds her Sentret tightly and Sei-Shun reaches for one of his Poké Balls. Yasashi could feel the intensity of the situation increasing. _What do I do?_

Suddenly, a shadowy figure drops down from the ceiling between the two groups. The cloak slowly falls to the ground and the sounds of the figure's footwear touching the floor echoes in the cave. A red sash is seen tied around his waist. The figure turns toward the three trainers, his crimson eye glowing in the darkness. _It's him! The man from before!_ Yasashi stood in shock at the mysterious man and he returns the gaze. Their eyes meet again, the red eye bringing the same chill down Yasashi's spine was staring back at him. The man turns toward the two grunts and takes out a Poké Ball. "Wait a minute. Red sash with an 'R'? Oh, shit!" one of the grunts yell. He takes out his firearm and the man appears next to the man. "What? When did you-" Before he can finish, the man slams his fist against the side of the grunts head. The grunt flies toward the stone wall and slams into it. He groans in pain as he falls to the ground. Before the other one can react, a giant ball of fire explodes near him sends him flying. The grunt lands on the other one and they painfully try to get up.

The Pokémon in the cave were startled from the sudden loud noise and they all move around in a frenzy. The trainers brace themselves and their Pokémon until all of the other Pokémon left.

"C-call for backup." a grunt tells the other. One of them pulls out a small device and he calls for help. The mysterious man appears next to a Salamance, most likely his. The man turns toward the three trainers, his presence make them fearful of what he was going to do next.

"You all need to get out of here now. This place will be flooded with Team Rocket in a matter of seconds." the man tells them. The three still trying to figure out what just happened snap back into reality and head to the exit towards Cerulean City. As they pass by the man, he stops Yasashi. The trainer looks at the man and then at his Pokémon. "Iris, Hikaru, follow the others." His Pokémon wanted to protest, but Yasashi insisted them to head on. "Please, I'll be right behind you." Iris and Hikaru hesitantly nod in unison and follow Mizu and Sei-Shun as they run for the exit.

"Continue your journey with caution. Heed my words with the utmost attention and magnitude. Your path will be filled with much pain and misery, do you truly have the strength to go on?" the man tells Yasashi, his stare piercing through the trainer's body. "Now go. The henchmen draw near. Once you leave this cave, find a secure place to hide. When the grunts enter, quickly move for Cerulean, understand?" Yasashi nods his head. "What about you?" he asks the man. The mysterious man turns toward the two grunts lying in pain. "I'm more than capable of handling them. This may be the last time we meet for a while. Go! Now!" The man orders. Yasashi turns around and leaves to join up with his friends.

The trainer rushes out of the cave and spots his friends nearby. As Yasashi meets up with them, he tells them that they needed to hide quickly. Hikaru finds a small area with a ledge and a few trees near them and they hid there. Just as the man told them, a group of Team Rocket grunts headed off to support their comrades in Mt. Moon. Gunfire can be heard coming from the cave and screams of pain. They all decided to get to Cerulean City as soon as possible and nod in unison. Seeing no more Team Rocket members, the three head towards Cerulean City.


End file.
